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ON   HORSEBACK  THROUGH  NIGERIA 


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A    GKANITK    DOMK 


ON    HORSEBACK 
THROUGH    NIGERIA 


OR 


LIFE   AND   TRAVEL   IN 
THE  CENTRAL  SUDAN 


Sy  J.   D.   FALCONER,   D.Sc. 

LECTURES    ON    GEOGRAPHY    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    GLASGOW 
AUTHOR    OF    "thI    GEOLOGY    AND    GEOGRAPHY    OF    NORTHERN    NIGERIA' 


WITH   A   MAP  AND   32  ILLUSTRATIONS 


T.     FISHER     UNWIN 

LONDON:    ADELPHI    TERRACE 

LEIPSIC:    INSELSTRASSE   20 

1911 


{All  rights  reserved.) 


TO 
MY  WIFE 


7G4S52 


PREFACE 

Northern  Nigeria  is  the  most  recent  acquisition 
of  the  British  Empire.  Its  area  is  approximately 
250,000  square  miles,  and  its  population,  at  a 
moderate  estimate,  8,000,000  inhabitants.  Its 
mediaeval  civilisation  and  its  medley  of  tribes  and 
races  were  first  described  by  Barth  some  sixty  years 
ago,  and  up  to  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  there  were  few  or  no  changes  in  the 
internal  condition  of  the  country.  The  pagans  of 
the  forests  and  the  hills  continued  to  be  ruthlessly 
raided  by  the  Mohammedan  slavers  of  the  north, 
while  the  Fulani  administration  of  the  ancient 
Hausa  States  became  more  and  more  corrupt.  The 
British  occupation  in  1900  was  dictated  first  by 
motives  of  humanity  and  later  by  considerations  of 
policy,  and,  curiously  enough,  the  greatest  resist- 
ance to  the  extension  of  the  Protectorate  has  been 
oiTered  by  the  pagans  themselves,  whom  experience 
has  taught  to  look  upon  all  strangers  as  hereditary 
foes*     The  main  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  exhibit, 

7 


Preface 

through  the  medium  of  a  narrative  of  travel,  the 
present  condition  of  the  country  under  British 
rule  and  the  remarkable  prestige  which  the  white 
man  has  secured  within  a  few  short  years  amongst 
pagans  and  Mohammedans  alike. 

The  tour  of  the  Protectorate  was  not  wholly 
accomplished  by  me  in  a  single  journey,  as 
described  in  the  text.  Some  portions  of  the 
country  were  visited  at  an  earlier  date  in  the  course 
of  my  wanderings  as  the  principal  officer  of  the 
Mineral  Survey.  The  journey  as  described,  how- 
ever, is  by  no  means  an  impossible  one  for  an 
experienced  traveller,  able  to  obtain  fresh  horses 
and  carriers  as  required  throughout  the  course  of 
his  travels. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  executors  of  the  late  Mr. 

Arthur    Longbottom    for    the    photographs    from 

which  have  been  prepared  the  illustrations  facing 

pages  24,   28,  32,  72,   112,    140,   162,    176,   238, 

260. 

J.  D.  F. 

August,  191 1, 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I 

PAGE 

On  the  Niger    .  .  .  .  .  •    iS 

Arrival  at  Forcados — the  Empire  and  her  skipper — Cooks 
and  steward  boys — The  creeks  of  the  delta — Trading 
stations  on  the  river — Rectangular  wattled  huts — The  head 
of  the  delta — Native  convicts  at  Onitsha — Aground  on  a 
sandbank — The  harmattan  haze — ^^Allahu  akbar" — The 
frontier  of  Northern  Nigeria — Picturesque  scenery — Bush 
fires  on  the  river  bank — A  stranded  steamer — In  sight  of 
Lokoja. 


chapter  ii 
Lokoja  to  Keffi  .  .  .  .  .35 

Lokoja  and  Mount  Patti — Carriers  and  traders — A  public 
lecture  in  the  courthouse — Departure  from  Lokoja — The 
R.M.S.  {S)Tork — Careless  navigators — The  port  of  Loko 
— Disembarkation — A  fruitless  search  for  horses — On  foot 
to  Nassarawa — Wandering  traders — A  deserted  town — 
The  fatigues  of  travel — A  broad  English  road — Rebuild- 
ing the  Residency — Nassarawa  and  its  warrior  king — 
Picturesque  country — Professional  beggars  and  native 
magicians — The  discontented  mallams  of  Keffi. 

9 


Contents 

CHAPTER    III 

PAGE 

The  Bauchi  Plateau   .  .  .  .  .60 

A  bush  camp — A  trader's  zungo — A  deserter — Christmas 
Eve — Market  day  at  Jaginde — The  margin  of  the  plateau — 
The  Sho-sho  people — Rectangular  compounds  and  cactus 
hedges — The  tailed  women  of  the  hills — Peculiarities  of 
the  natives — Chilly  nights — Striking  scenery — The  summit 
of  the  plateau — The  descent  of  Polchi — The  discovery  of 
tinstone  on  the  plateau — The  settlement  of  Naraguta — , 
Doubtful  reception  by  the  natives  of  Ngell. 


chapter  iv 
Bauchi  to  Ibi     .  .  .  .  .  .    89 

Scenery  around  Bauchi — The  origin  of  monkeys — Pagans 
and  Fulani— On  the  way  to  Kereng — The  grassy  plains  of 
Panyam — The  sarikin  Kereng  makes  obeisance — Climbing 
the  Kereng  cone — Truculent  natives — The  Angass  people 
— The  Wase  Rock — The  Gurkawa  pagans — Character  of 
the  country — Ibi  and  the  Benue — Ferrying  horses  across 
the  river — Leaving  for  Arofu — An  unfortunate  occurrence 
— Kokanda  and  Nupe  canoes — Camping  on  a  sandbank 
— The  lead  mines  of  Arofu — Precautions  against  alarm 
—Salt-making  at  Awe — A  characteristic  letter — The 
Ankwe  River — A  waterless  march. 


CHAPTER  V 

Wase  to  Gombe  .  .  .  ..  .124 

The  hills  of  Kanna — Reception  at  Bashar — A  game  re- 
serve— A  local  superstition — The  power  of  a  ju-ju — 
Ancient  lead-mines — The  rocks  of  Ligri — The  pagan  mind 
— First  view  of  Tangale  Peak — A  night  march — Native 
iron  -  furnaces — Smelting  the  ore — Bush  Fulani — The 
river  Gongola  and  its  faddama— A  picturesque  village — 
Arrival  at  Gombe. 

10 


Contents 

chapter  vi 
Nafada  to  Tangale     .  .  .  .  .146 

A  garrison  town — Stung  by  a  scorpion — The  ruins  of 
Burmi — Trouble  with  the  carriers — Willing  helpers — The 
Peak  in  the  distance — A  stronghold  of  paganism — An 
importunate  chief — Approaching  the  rocks  of  Ture — The 
galadima's  smile — A  solitary  grave — The  base  of  the  Peak 
— Giant  baboons — The  effects  of  guinea-worm — The  gala- 
dima  acts  as  guide — The  hills  of  Chongwom — Deadly 
enemies — Reception  at  Tangalto — Picturesque  country — 
The  prestige  of  the  white  man. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu    .  .  .169 

The  Bima  Hills — A  dreary  prospect — An  obliging  sariki — 
Hostile  pagans — The  rocks  of  Chibuk — An  alarm  of  fire 
— The  recent  history  of  Bornu— On  the  way  to  Chad — 
Characteristic  scenery — Luxurious  travelling — The  Resi- 
dency at  Mongonu — Salt-making  in  the  marshes — The 
silent  city  of  Kukawa — The  shores  of  Chad — A  disappoint- 
ment— Canoeing  on  the  Lake — Mosquitoes  and  horseflies 
— Last  view  of  Chad — The  saltbush  or  siwak-tree — A  mag- 
nificent sunset — Kukawa  by  moonlight — On  the  way  to 
Gujba — An  impossible  request — Approaching  Kerri  Kerri. 

chapter  viii 
On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland      .  .  .  210 

The  Kerri  Kerris — In  the  Golden  Age — Canon  valleys — 
The  margin  of  the  plateau — The  sarikin  Daia — The  kings 
of  Jellum — Into  Hausa  country — A  disappointed  sariki 
— Hospitable  natives — A  Hausa  welcome — Hausas  and 
Fulani — The  rocks  of  Shira — A  midnight  thief — Searching 
the  village — The  Ningi  Hills — A  pagan  stronghold — Ari, 
Ningi,  and  Bura — The  magnificence  of  the  sarikin  Bura — 
A  striking  contrast. 

II 


Contents 

CHAPTER    IX 

PACK 

The  Plains  of  Hausaland    .  .  .  .243 

Entering  Hausaland — The  old  king  of  Jemaari — An  ancient 
desert  surface — Katagum  and  Hadeija — On  the  way  to 
Kano — Comfortable  travelling — History  of  Kano  and  of 
the  Fulani  conquest — The  British  occupation  —  The 
capture  of  Kano — Kano  in  1909 — A  rumour  of  insur- 
rection— Departure  for  Kazaure — On  the  way  to  Katsina 
— Cordial  welcomes — An  unpleasant  experience — Pagan 
Hausas — Through  Fulani  country — Recent  history  of 
Sokoto — The  old  city  of  Wurnu — The  valley  of  the 
Sokoto  River. 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Gulbin  Kebbi  and  the  Middle  Niger         .  279 

The  history  of  Argungu — Hearty  welcome  by  the  sariki — 
Birnin  Kebbi — A  narrow  path — Southward  to  Yelwa — A 
decaying  city — Approach  of  the  rainy  season — The  Niger 
at  Bussa — The  scene  of  Park's  disaster — The  river  gorge 
at  Jebba — The  Juju  Rock — The  history  of  Kontagora — 
Its  capture  by  the  British — The  Kaduna  at  Zungeru — 
The  "jirigin  kassa" — Farewell  to  Mount  Patti. 


APPENDIX 

The  Future  of  Nigeria         .  .  .  .  298 

Index        .......  307 


12 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Granite  Dome 

On  the  Forcados  River 

Convicts  at  Onitsha. 

On  the  Niger  near  Igbo 

LoKOjA  AND  Mount  Patti 

A  Byway  in  Nassarawa 

The  Plains  of  Keffi 

A  Traders'  Camping-place 

Market-day  at  Jaginde 

The  Hills  behind  Jaginde 

A  Wayside  Halt 

The  Rest-camp  at  Polchi 

The  Court-house  at  Bauchi 

The  Rocks  of  Panyam 

The  Wase  Rock 

13 


Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 
24 

28 

32 

35 
54 
58 
62 
66 
72 
82 
88 
92 
98 
104 


List  of  Illustrations 
The  Rest-camp  at  Wase 
On  the  Benue 
Camp  near  Akiri 

On  the  Kudu  River  .  .  . 

The  Thinly  Wooded  Plains  of  Bauchi 
A  Wayside  Pool 
A  Mountain  Stream  . 
Crossing  the  Gongola 
The  Rocks  of  Chibuk 
The  Residency  at  Mongonu 
Camp  at  Bre    . 
On  Lake  Chad 
The  Market-place  at  Shira 
A  Turtle-back  of  Granite  . 
A  Village  Market     . 
On  the  Way  to  Kano 
Tying  Up  the  Loads 


FACING  PAGE 
1 08 


14 


On    Horseback   through    Nigeria 

CHAPTER    I 

ON     THE    NIGER 

"  Ay,  here  am  I  in  Arden ;    the  more  fool  I ;    when  I  was  at 
bonie^  1  was  in  a  better  place :  but  travellers  must  be  content !  " 

Arrival  at  Forcados — The  Empire  and  her  skipper — Cooks  and 
steward  boys — The  creeks  of  the  delta — Trading  stations  on 
the  river — Rectangular  wattled  huts — The  head  of  the  delta 
— Native  convicts  at  Onitsha — Aground  on  a  sandbank — The 
harmattan  haze — '*  Allahu  akbar  " — The  frontier  of  Northern 
Nigeria — Picturesque  scenery — Bush  fires  on  the  river  bank — 
A  stranded  steamer — In  sight  of  Lokoja. 

^k)  one  who  is  not  quite  callous  to  his  fortune 
returns  to  Nigeria  without  feeling  in  full  the  force 
of  Touchstone's  argument.  Those  happy,  sunny 
days  at  home  press  upon  one's  heart ;  in  vain  one 
thinks  of  busy  cities  and  sweet  companionship,  of 
green  fields  and  leafy  lanes — those  dank  mangrove 
swamps  are  all  too  real !  And  beyond  is  a  land  of 
darkness,  of  sickness,  of  discomfort,  of  trial  :  the 
land  where  life  at  best  is  but  existence,  where  one 
lives  in  the  past  and  in  the  future,  least  of  all  in 
the  present  1      "  But  travellers  must   be   content," 

15 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

and  your  West  African  is  proverbially  stoical.  Not 
a  sound,  not  a  sigh  of  regret  escapes  him  ;  with 
a  laugh  or  a  jeer  he  steps  ashore  ;  a  man  must  live 
and  a  man  must  die — it  matters  little  where  1 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the 
24th  of  November,  1908,  that  the  good  ship 
Burutu  anchored  off  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Forcados  River,  the  most  westerly  navigable 
branch  of  the  Niger  delta.  It  had  been  high 
water  at  3  a.m.  ;  but  the  night  was  dark,  there 
was  no  moon,  and  the  lesser  candles  of  the  night 
were  insufficient  to  allow  our  worthy  captain  to  pick 
up  the  buoys  which  mark  the  channel  ;  so  perforce 
we  had  to  lie  there  until  the  afternoon.  All  the 
morning  we  gazed  at  the  dark  and  dreary  line  of 
mangroves  which  fringed  the  eastern  sky,  and  at  the 
tiny  blank  on  the  horizon  which  marked  the  river 
mouth  and  seemed  to  beckon  us  on  with  the  hope  of 
passage.  And,  as  if  impatient  to  claim  us,  the  brown 
water  of  the  Niger  came  racing  over  the  bar  at  ebb 
and  joyfully  encircled  us,  only  to  be  met  and  broken 
up  and  streaked  with  blue  by  the  flowing  tide. 

By    three    o'clock    we    were    under    way    and 

steaming  towards  the  line  of  surf  which  marked 

the  sandy  bar.     Over  it  we  bumped  at  four,  and 

by  five  we  were  anchored  in  the  port  of  Forcados, 

near  the  floating  dock  and  five  or  six  other  English 

and    German    steamers,    smaller    than    ourselves. 

Meanwhile  the  mails  and  baggage  had  been  slung 

on  the  after   deck  and  the   fore   hatches   opened, 

ready  to  begin  the  work  of  transhipping  the  Lagos 

cargo.      Branch  boats   immediately  grappled   with 

16 


On  the  Niger 

us  alongside  ;  native  cooks  and  steward  boys  came 
off  in  canoes  to  look  for  masters  old  and  new  ;  the 
Customs  clerks  came  on  board  to  gather  in  their 
lo  per  cent,  on  dutiable  goods;  and  the  rattling 
of  chains,  the  spluttering  of  donkey  engines,  and 
the  shouting  and  talking  of  the  Kroo  boys  intimated  / 
to  the  melancholy  swamps  that  yet  another  steamer 
had  come  laden  out  of  the  great  Unknown. 

Forcados  should  always  be  visited  by  night,  for 
by  day  it  is  a  dismal  place.  A  few  houses  built  on 
a  spit  of  mud  and  mangrove-roots  accommodate 
the  Resident,  the  doctor,  the  Customs  officer,  and 
the  Company's  agent.  The  native  population  con- 
sists of  a  dozen  or  so  amphibious  creatures,  who 
inhabit  a  few  waterlogged  huts  half-hidden 
amongst  the  mangroves  and  eke  out  a  precarious 
existence  upon  the  produce  of  their  fishing  nets. 
Moreover,  "  the  rain  it  raineth  every  day,"  the  sky 
is  ever  dull  and  cloudy,  the  very  daylight  is  sick, 
and  the  air  hot  and  steamy  and  heavy  with  the 
rotting  odours  of  the  swamp.  But  at  night  the 
scene  is  transformed  ;  the  twinkling  lights  of  the 
steamers  give  a  homelike  aspect  to  the  port,  and 
the  eye  cannot  reach  in  the  darkness  the  murky 
mangroves  which  line  the  shores.  Almost  can  one 
imagine  piers  and  wharves  and  shuttered  ware- 
houses behind  the  lights,  with  a  sleeping  city 
beyond  ;  only  the  damp  and  stagnant  air  and  the 
clammy  odour  of  the  night  remind  one  that  things 
are  not  what  they  seem. 

The  Northern  Nigerian  Government  steamer 
came  leisurely  down  from  Burutu  in  the  morning, 

17  B 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

and  with  much  blowing  of  the  siren  made  fast 
alongside.  It  proved  to  be  the  Empire,  a  strongly- 
built  double-decked  stern-wheeler,  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  serviceable  steamers  on  the  river.  The 
lower  deck  and  the  shallow  holds  accommodate  the 
engines,  cargo,  and  native  passengers  ;  the  upper 
deck  is  reserved,  as  the  Notice  says,  for  the  con- 
venience, comfort,  and  recreation  of  Europeans. 
The  skipper,  Williams,  a  half-caste  American 
negro,  is  a  character  in  his  way.  Exiled  from  the 
States  some  fifteen  years  ago,  when  his  shanghai- 
ing den  was  cleared,  he  has  made  his  home  on  the 
Niger,  and,  with  a  wife  in  every  port,  is  spending 
the  evening  of  his  days  in  honourable  employment. 
He  considers  himself  as  much  superior  to  his  native 
crew  as  white  is  to  black,  and  to  hear  him  rating 
his  sailors  as  incapable  black  lubbers  is  a  constant 
source  of  amusement.  With  the  instinct  of  the 
black  man,  however,  he  has  proved  himself  an  ex- 
cellent river  navigator,  and  without  the  help  of  a 
pilot  he  steers  the  Empire  safe  and  sound,  year 
in,  year  out,  through  all  the  changing  seasons. 

By  nine  o'clock  our  goods  and  chattels  had 
been  safely  stowed  aboard  the  Empire,  and 
after  breakfast  we  bade  goodbye  to  the  Burata, 
with  its  cleanly  cabins,  its  tidy  saloon,  its 
iced  drinks,  and  its  airy  decks.  Another 
stage  of  our  journey  had  begun  ;  another  step 
away  from  the  homeland — and  yet  another  step 
nearer  the  return  I  In  two  hours  we  had  reached 
Burutu,  a  station  somewhat  more  inviting  than 
Forcados.       Here    are    the    headquarters    of    the 

x8 


On  the  Niger 

Niger  Company  in  Southern  Nigeria,  with  their 
engineering  shops,  shipping  stores,  and  canteen ; 
also  the  post-office,  bank,  rest-house,  Northern 
Nigerian  marine  station,  and  a  native  market. 
There  is  practically  no  native  town.  The  houses 
are  built  on  a  sandbank  which  has  been  cleared  of 
mangroves,  and  a  few  ornamental  shrubs  and  trees 
help  to  hide  the  fact.  We  lay  at  the  wharf  for 
two  hours  to  lay  in  provisions  and  stores  for  the 
journey  up-river,  for  on  these  steamers  every  one 
must  cater  for  himself.  By  three  o'clock,  however, 
we  were  off,  the  old  Empire  bravely  pounding  away 
and  making,  with  the  help  of  the  tide,  five  or  six 
knots  an  hour  up-stream.  By  dusk  we  had  more 
or  less  settled  down  in  our  allotted  spaces,  and 
soon  after  dinner  the  mosquitoes  and  the  fireflies 
buzzed  over  a  sleeping  ship. 

There  were  nine  of  us  on  the  Empire,  and  we 
were  each  lucky  enough  to  secure  half  a  cabin,  and 
this  was  comparative  comfort.  On  the  Empire 
there  are  four  cabins  and  a  messroom  fitted  with 
electric  light.  The  skipper's  cabin  is  in  front  in 
one  corner  of  the  upper  deck,  and  by  day  he  sits 
in  his  chair  forward  and  directs  the  man  at  the 
wheel  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  to  port  or  starboard. 
There  is  one  small  ladder  leading  to  the  lower 
deck,  and  below  boys,  cooks,  native  passengers, 
crew,  and  cargo  are  mingled  in  wild  confusion. 
There  is  a  tiny  galley,  in  which  the  cooks  are 
half-hidden  in  smoke,  and  the  wonder  is,  not  so 
much  that  the  food  is  passably  clean,  in  spite  of 
the  crowd  and  the  smoke  and  the  dirt  below,  but 

19 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

that  the  cooks  are  able  to  cook  at  all  in  such  a 
primitive  kitchen. 

Cooks  and  steward  boys  are  among  the  neces- 
sities of  existence  in  West  Africa.  They  are  some- 
times grouped  with  mosquitoes  and  sandflies  as 
necessary  evils,  but  the  classification  is  barely 
justified.  Boys  will  be  boys  all  the  world  over, 
and  West  African  boys  are  largely  what  their 
earliest  masters  make  them.  A  native  lad  of  eight 
or  twelve  is,  as  a  rule,  much  brighter  in  intellect 
than  the  average  English  boy  of  the  same  class 
and  age ;  and  an  unreasonable  master  will  in- 
variably make  an  unsatisfactory  servant  even  out 
of  the  best  material.  That  many  boys  are  thieves 
and  liars  is,  unfortunately,  true  ;  but,  if  the  whole 
truth  were  known,  it  would  probably  be  found  that 
the  fault  was  not  so  much  on  the  side  of  heredity 
and  environment  as  is  commonly  supposed.  When 
reasonably  treated,  the  black,  man  or  boy,  is  as 
faithful  as  the  white,  and  if  well  clothed  and  cared 
for  by  an  appreciative  master,  a  boy  will  patiently 
endure  all  the  fatigues  of  constant  travel  in  the 
bush  and  be  ready  and  willing  to  attend  to  his 
numerous  duties  as  soon  as  the  camp  is  pitched. 

As  a  rule  a  small  boy  aspires  to  become  in 
time  a  cook,  a  post  which  carries  with  it 
more  money  and  better  hopes  of  matrimony. 
Native  cooks,  indeed,  are  worthy  of  the  greatest 
admiration.  With  a  minimum  of  saucepans, 
a  few  old  tin  cans,  and  a  bundle  of  fire- 
wood, a  native  cook  can  turn  out  a  five  or  six 
course  dinner  with  the  greatest  ease.     The  cooking 

20 


On   the  Niger 

is  done,  moreover,  over  an  open  fire,  sometimes 
set  in  the  lee  of  a  giant  kuka-tree,  but  more  often 
exposed  to  all  the  winds  of  heaven  ;  and  yet  the 
viands  are  rarely  smoked,  and  ashes  conspicuous 
by  their  absence.  In  half  an  hour's  halt  by  the 
wayside  a  breakfast  of  Quaker  oats  bacon  and 
eggs,  or  a  luncheon  of  broiled  fowl,  can  be  cooked 
and  dispatched  with  the  greatest  ease.  Needless  to 
say,  however,  for  such  a  feat  activity  and  experi- 
ence are  required  on  the  part  of  both  the  master 
and  the  cook,  but  the  dexterity  of  the  latter  is 
such  as  even   a   European   chef   might   envy. 

Unfortunately^,  occasions  do  arise  upon  which 
even  the  best  of  cooks  may  fail,  when  the  soup 
is  watery,  the  fowl  tough  and  leathery,  the  paw- 
paw dirty,  and  the  pudding  like  rubber  ;  and  at 
these  times  the  language  of  the  master  is  better 
imagined  than  described  I 

It  is  customary  to  engage  a  cook  and  one  or 
two  boys  at  Burutu  for  the  river  journey  only, 
and  if  on  arrival  at  Lokoja  the  master  is 
dissatisfied  with  his  servants,  he  may  there  dis- 
charge them  and  renew  his  stafT  locally.  As 
a  rule  down-river  boys  are  of  little  use  in 
Northern  Nigeria.  The  principal  point  in  their 
favour  is  that  they  have  fewer  friends  up-country 
and  that  they  are  therefore  less  inclined  to  frequent 
the  towns  and  villages  after  dark.  Against  this, 
however,  must  be  placed  the  fact  that  they  have 
been  bred  in  a  country  where  water  is  more 
plentiful  and  the  paths  much  softer,  and  that  con- 
sequently their  feet  soon  give  out  on  the  rough 

31 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

stony  roads  of  the  north.  Moreover,  they  have  not 
a  fluent  acquaintance  with  Hausa  and  other  tribal 
languages,  and  consequently  make  bad  bargains 
in  the  local  markets. 

The  Empire  had  anchored  for  the  night  about 
thirty  miles   up   the   Forcados   River,   and   beyond 
the  mangrove -roots  and  the  brackish  waters  of  the 
tidal   stream.      Next   morning   the   banks    became 
higher  and  densely  fringed  with  palms  and  ever- 
green  trees.      Tributary   creeks   opened   on    either 
hand,  broad  and  clear  and  placid,  or  narrow  dark 
and  full  of  mystery.     The  primitive  peoples  of  the 
delta  were  little  in  evidence.     Now  and  then  from 
the  dark  shadows  of  a  smaller  creek  a  black  canoe, 
with  a   dusky  maiden   in   the   stern,   clad   only   in 
wristlets  and  anklets  of  ivory,  would  dart  out  into 
the  sunshine,  only  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat  into  the 
depths  of  the  forest ;    or  a  dug-out,  moored  to  ai 
stake  on  the  river-bank,  would  be  the  only  indica- 
tion of  a  native  village  hidden   behind  the   leafy 
veil.     The  old  Empire,  however,  with  its  motley 
crew,   was   probably  the   cynosure   of  many  eyes ; 
but  the  inaccessibility  of  the  primeval   forests  of 
the   delta   has    delayed   the   development    of   their 
primitive  inhabitants,  and  they  are  still  shy  of  the 
white  man  and  all  his  works.     With  their  shyness, 
however,  is  coupled  a  certain  inherent  truculence, 
which  is  exhibited  whenever  the  white  man  wanders 
out  of  the  beaten  track.     To  the  native  the  river  is 
now   irretrievably   in    possession   of   the   foreigner, 
but   he   still    hotly   resents   any    intrusion    into   his 
leafy  domains  on  either  bank. 

32 


On   the   Niger 

In  a  few  hours  we  reached  Ganna  Ganna,  one 
of  the  first  trading  stations  to  be  established  on  the 
river.  Its  very  aspect  and  situation  are  redolent 
of  times  gone  by.  The  bungalows  and  store-houses 
are  built  on  an  island  in  mid-stream,  and  the  shores 
are  strewn  with  the  keels  and  prows  of  departed 
barges  and  river  boats.  The  station  from  the  first 
occupied  a  coign  of  vantage,  being  naturally  forti- 
fied by  its  insular  position  ;  but  it  is  easy  to  cast 
the  mind  back  to  the  days  when,  on  dark  and 
cheerless  nights,  the  island  was  beset  by  mobs  of 
naked  savages  thirsting  for  the  blood  of  the  white 
men  and  the  riches  of  their  stores.  But  now  on  the 
river  climatic  foes  alone  are  to  be  feared,  and  of 
their  virulence  we  were  strongly  reminded  as,  at 
the  sound  of  the  Empire's  siren,  an  emaciated 
European  dragged  himself  up  to  the  verandah  and 
in  a  weary  voice  ordered  his  native  attendants  to 
launch  a  canoe  and  bring  off  the  mails  from  his 
far-ofi^  home. 

The  delta  trader's  lot  is  not  a  happy  one.  He 
must  remain  cooped  up  in  his  dismal  store, 
bargaining  and  bartering  with  his  dusky  neigh- 
bours, from  early  morn  till  dewy  eve.  His  chances 
of  exercise  are  very  meagre,  for  he  dare  not  venture 
far  inward  from  his  post.  His  only  excitement 
is  the  coming  and  going  of  the  steamers.  Little 
wonder,  then,  that  even  a  sick  man  rises  from  his 
bed  to  rest  his  eyes  upon  those  links  with  home  and 
to  bless  the  hearts  and  hands  of  the  distant  friends 
who  have  thought  of  him  in  his  loneliness. 

Above    Ganna    Ganna    the    white    roofs    of   the 

23 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

trading  stores  become  more  frequent  on  either 
bank.  Perched  almost  on  the  water's  edge,  they 
represent  a  distinct  advance  upon  the  hulks  and 
barges  of  the  early  days,  which  were  moored  at 
night  in  mid-stream  and  drawn  up  to  the  bank 
by  day  to  trade  and  barter  with  the  treacherous 
natives.  As  each  store  comes  in  sight  the  skipper 
rises  to  the  occasion  ;  and,  full  of  authority  as  the 
master  of  an  R.M.S.,  viciously  blows  the  siren 
and  vigorously  rattles  the  engine-room  telegraph, 
to  the  open-mouthed  amazement  and  delight  of  the 
boys  and  native  passengers.  With  voice  and  ges- 
ture also  he  urges  on  the  canoe  which  pushes  out 
from  shore  as  if  even  on  the  confines  of  the  Empire 
His  Majesty's  mails  must  not  for  a  single  second 
be  delayed. 

As  we  ascend  the  river  the  natives  gradually 
become  less  shy  and  more  demonstrative.  Their 
villages  of  wattled  huts,  rectangular  in  shape  and 
plastered  with  mud,  are  set  in  clearings  on  the 
river  bank,  while  the  boys  and  girls,  the  youths 
and  maidens  rush  wildly  to  the  canoes,  paddle  out 
towards  the  steamer,  and  dive  and  swim  excitedly 
after  the  empty  tins  and  bottles  which  the  boys 
delight  in  throwing  from  the  upper  deck.  And 
despite  their  professed  indifference  and  their  con- 
scious superiority  as  servants  of  the  white  men,  our 
boys  themselves  look  as  if  they  would  dearly  love 
to  join  in  the  scramble  with  their  less  sophisticated 
brethren . 

As  we  approached  the  head  of  the  delta  the 
character  of  the  vegetation  and  the  aspect  of  the 

«4 


On  the  Niger 

river  gradually  changed.  Coarse  rank  grass 
began  to  appear  on  the  river  bank  and  to  form, 
with  creeping  and  twining  plants,  a  thick  under- 
growth to  the  forest  of  palms  and  evergreen  trees. 
Here  and  there  above  the  general  level  of  the  forest 
there  rose  the  lofty  crown  of  a  deciduous  tree, 
while  in  places  on  the  water's  edge  the  bank  had 
slipped  and  the  graceful  crests  of  the  palms  alone 
protruded  from  the  stream.  An  occasional  sand- 
bank, moreover,  added  a  touch  of  colour  to  the 
gloomy  waters  of  the  river,  and  spoke  eloquently 
of  the  winding  channels  and  the  golden  sands  of 
the  open  north. 

Presently  we  passed  Abo,  a  large  native  town 
and  trading  station  situated  at  the  head  of  the 
delta.  And  now  at  length  we  changed  our  course 
to  stem  the  waters  of  the  lordly  Niger.  Behind  us 
we  left  the  dreary  swamps  and  the  dismal  creeks 
of  the  ill-omened  delta,  and  joyfully  we  turned 
our  faces  northward  to  greet  the  land  of  sunshine 
and  of  promise.  We  thought  of  the  bygone  heroes 
who  for  weeks  and  months  at  a  stretch  had  braved 
the  reeking  odours  of  the  swamps  and  the  poisoned 
darts  of  the  riverain  natives,  to  find  in  the  delta's 
maze  this  passage  to  the  golden  north.  In  two 
short  days  we  had  traversed  the  work  of  years, 
and  in  peace  and  comparative  comfort  and  luxury 
reached  the  gateway  of  the  promised  land. 

Soon  the  aspect  of  the  river  began  again  to 
change.  The  shallowing  waters  laid  bare  extensive 
sandbanks,  peopled  by  egrets,  cranes,  and  vultures. 
Here  and  there  a  fisherman  had  fixed  his  nets  in 

25 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

the  falling  stream,  or  lazily  towed  them  behind 
his  canoe  in  the  quiet  waters.  Now  and  then  a 
crocodile  could  be  seen  basking  and  gaping  in  the 
sunshine,  while  a  hippo  splashed  in  a  neighbouring 
pool.  By  the  time  Onitsha  came  in  sight  the 
margins  of  the  river  were  less  densely  wooded, 
while  many  of  the  sandbanks  in  mid-channel  were 
grassed  over  and  studded  with  scrubby  trees  and 
bushes.  Over  the  broad  sandy  river-bed  the 
channel  wound  about  from  right  to  left  and  left 
to  right,  with  the  deeper  water  and  the  more  pre- 
cipitous banks  now  at  one  side,  now  at  the  other, 
with  broad  and  shallow  reaches  between.  The 
steamer  likewise  wound  about,  following  the 
deepest  water,  with  the  quartermaster  steadily 
heaving  the  lead  over  the  sandy  shallows. 

It  is  a  common  occurrence  when  the  river  is 
low  for  these  flat-bottomed  steamers  to  ground  on 
the  river-bed,  and  the  shallows  below  Onitsha  are 
notably  difficult  to  cross.  Sandbanks  also  in 
course  of  formation  are  not  always  visible  even 
to  the  practised  eye  of  the  pilot.  When  the 
steamer  runs  on  a  bank  it  is  customary  in  the  first 
place  for  the  master  to  order  the  crew  overboard. 
Fifteen  or  twenty  stalwart  sailors  at  once  hop  over 
the  low  gunwales,  which  are  only  a  few  inches 
above  the  water-level,  and,  with  much  shouting  and 
struggling,  attempt  to  push  the  steamer  backwards 
off  the  bank.  The  attempt  usually  fails,  however, 
from  want  of  united  effort,  the  crew  being  indi- 
vidually    sufficiently     dexterous     to     avoid     any 

muscular   over-strain.      The   master   then    decides 

26 


On  the  Niger 

upon  more  determined  efforts,  and  orders  the  crew 
to  shoulder  the  kedge  anchor  and  carry  it  some 
distance  astern  into  deeper  water.  The  anchor  line 
is  then  attached  to  the  drum  of  the  donkey  engine 
and  the  steamer  hauled  backwards  into  the  channel. 
This  operation  is  usually  successful ;  but  in  very 
refractory  cases  the  crew  are  set  to  dig  away  the 
sand  from  beneath  and  behind  the  steamer  until 
she  slips  backwards  into  the  stream. 

Onitsha  is  one  of  the  most  important  towns  on 
the  Lower  Niger,  as  well  as  a  local  administrative 
centre  in  Southern  Nigeria.  The  European 
quarters  are  built  on  a  ridge  of  high  ground 
which  runs  inland  behind  the  native  town,  while 
the  traders'  stores  and  bungalows  are  set  lower 
down  by  the  riverside.  At  this  season  the  banks 
are  steep  and  high,  and  in  the  absence  of  cranes 
and  other  conveniences  the  process  of  unloading 
heavy  cargo  is  rather  a  tedious  one.  As  a  rule  the 
native  porters  are  fairly  dexterous ;  but,  as  it 
happ)ened,  the  Empire  had  on  board  a  considerable 
quantity  of  Government  stores  in  the  shape  of  casks 
of  rice  and  cases  of  provisions,  and  a  gang  of  con- 
victs had  been  sent  down  from  the  prison  to  unload 
them.  The  convicts,  some  of  whom  had  their  feet 
loosely  chained  together,  were  clad  in  short  white 
tunics  and  loin-cloths  stamped  with  the  broad 
arrow,  and  looked  a  strong  and  lusty  crowd. 
Under  the  charge  of  their  native  warders,  however, 
they  proved  to  be  quite  Gilbertian  workers.  Six 
men  would  struggle  valiantly  with  a  packing-case 

which,  after  some  little  persuasion  by  a  warder,  one 

27 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

man  would  take  on  his  head  and  carry  off  quite 
cheerfully.  Twelve  men  would  bravely  endeavour 
to  get  a  cask  into  position,  until  the  two  warders, 
in  despair,  would  order  them  to  stand  aside  while 
they  put  the  matter  right  themselves.  Occasionally 
a  warder,  by  way  of  correction,  would  tap  a  convict 
lightly  on  the  shoulder  with  his  cane,  and  there- 
upon the  convict  and  all  his  fellows  would  at  once 
stop  work,  and  a  prolonged  and  heated  altercation 
would  ensue  between  the  warder  and  his  charges. 
To  crown  all,  at  four  o'clock,  after  a  little  cheerful 
conversation  with  the  convicts,  the  warders  decided 
to  stop  work  lest  they  should  tire  the  prisoners, 
and  it  was  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that 
the  skipper  persuaded  them  to  renew  their  united 
efforts  until  five  I 

We  lay  at  Onitsha  all  night,  and  next  morning 
the  same  hopeful  band  returned  to  complete  their 
labours  ;  but  in  spite  of,  or  perhaps  on  account 
of,  their  ardour,  it  was  again  five  o'clock  before 
the  Empire  at  last  got  under  way.  Night  fell 
clear  and  starry,  and  soon  the  moon  rose  in  all  its 
tropical  brilliance.  For  a  time  the  skipper  pushed 
ahead,  but  soon  after  dinner  the  Empire  plunged 
hopelessly  into  a  sandbank,  and  all  efforts  to  move 
her  were,  by  one  consent,  postponed  till  dawn. 
A  gentle  breeze  on  the  river  kept  the  decks  free 
from  mosquitoes  and  other  insect  pests.  We  lay 
outstretched  on  our  camp  chairs,  enjoying  the  calm 
radiance  of  the  tropical  even.  The  black  waters 
lapped  gently  round   us,   the   sandbanks   gleamed 

white  and  clear  in  the  moonlight,  and  far  off  on 

28 


On  the  Niger 

either   hand   was   the   dark   fringe   which   marked 

the  limits  of  the   river-bed.      Now   and  then   the 

breezes    brought    us    the    muffled    sound    of   tum- 

tumming  and  native  merriment,  while  an  occasional 

gleam  of  light  on  the  river  bank  warned  us  that  we 

were  not  unseen.     For  a  time  we  speculated  upon 

the  nature  of  the  reception  which  we  might  expect 

if  by  any  chance  we  were  thrown  adrift  upon  those 

gloomy  banks,  and  we  guessed  that  even  now  at 

many  points  upon  the  river  our  fate,  if  separated 

from  the   Empire,   would  be  little   different   from 

that  of  the  earlier  explorers.     We  then  fell  back 

upon  the  perennial  amusement  of  the  old  coaster  ; 

and,  for  the  benefit  of  the  new-comers,  drew  lurid 

pictures  of  the  dire  diseases  and  the  treacherous 

natives   of  the    north,    and    recounted    with   much 

embellishment  all  the  tales  of  horror  and  alarm 

that  the  bush  had  ever  produced. 

The  skipper  and  the  crew  were  early  at  work  in 

the  morning  tugging  the  Empire  off  the  bank,  and 

we  awoke  to  find  ourselves  surrounded  by  another 

reminder  of  the  north.     A  thin  blue  haze  lay  upon 

the  water  like  a  light  November  fog,  but  it  smelt 

and  felt  quite  dry  and  dusty,  without  a  trace  of 

vapour  in  the  air.    It  was  the  first  touch  of  the  har- 

mattan,  that  unpleasant  companion  of  the  northern 

sun.   As  the  day  wore  on  the  haze  thickened,  and  the 

dusty  atmosphere  dimmed  the  sunshine  and  limited 

our  view  from  the  steamer.     At  a  little  distance 

the  river  passed  into  a  bluish-grey  mist,  while  the 

ill-defined  banks  became  fainter  and  fainter,  until 

they  also  were  lost  in  the  haze.     As  we  approached 

29 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Idah  the  sun  sank  in  the  west  like  a  gleaming 
golden  sphere  ;  and  the  night  fell  chill  and  cold 
and  dark,  with  a  dank,  sulphurous  odour  rising 
from  the  waters  of  the  river. 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn  we  were  roused  by 
the  call  of  the  muezzin  from  the  mosque  of  Idah, 
by  that  familiar  call  of  "  Allaha  akbar  "  ("  God  is 
great  "),  which  reminded  us  that  we  were  once 
more  on  the  threshold  of  the  Mohammedan  north. 
A  certain  feeling  of  kinship  rises  in  one's  breast 
at  the  sound  of  that  piercing  cry  at  break  of  day, 
a  feeling  which  all  the  heathen  rites  and  charms 
of  the  southern  tribes  can  never  hope  to  rouse. 
Equally  truculent  though  they  may  be,  the 
Mohammedan  or  even  the  professedly  Moham- 
medan tribes  seem  nearer  to  the  white  man  in 
mind  and  morals  than  the  ju-ju  worshippers  of 
the  south  :  and  after  travelling  through  a  pagan 
country  it  is  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  one  hears 
again  the  welcome  call  to  prayer  at  morning,  noon, 
and  eve.  Here  at  Idah,  however,  the  presence  of 
a  mallam  is  the  result  of  missionary  effort  from 
the  north,  for  all  the  river  tribes  to  the  south 
and  for  some  distance  to  the  north  of  Lokoja  are 
still  hopelessly  wrapt  in  the  mysticism  of  paganism. 

Idah  is  the  northernmost  outpost  of  Southern 
Nigeria,  and  the  Residency  is  picturesquely 
situated  on  a  low  ridge  which  meets  the  Niger 
in  a  steep  cliif  of  white  sandstone.  A  little  farther 
north  on  the  other  bank  is  Igore,  the  southern- 
most outpost  of  Northern  Nigeria,  and  between  the 
two  we  crossed  the  boundary  between  the  two  Pro- 

30 


On  the  Niger 

tectorates.  Nearing  Igore  a  bolt  snapped  and  the 
engines  were  partially  disabled,  so  the  skipper  hove 
to  for  repairs.  Being  the  frontier  Customs  station, 
the  beach  is  guarded  by  a  native  policeman, 
resplendent  in  a  blue  serge  tunic  and  knickers,  with 
a  belt,  a  yellow  sash,  and  a  wand  of  office.  While 
on  duty  his  bearing  is  dignified  and  unapproach- 
able, but  as  soon  as  his  watch  is  over  he  sheds 
his  sash,  the  badge  of  office,  and  on  the  river  bank 
offers  for  sale  tame  parrots  in  a  basket  ! 

By  midday  the  engines  had  been  temporarily 
repaired,  and  we  set  out  up-stream  once  more,  only 
to  run  full  tilt  into  a  sandbank  a  few  miles  up. 
The  usual  delay  occurred  while  the  anchor  was 
carried  astern  and  the  steamer  hauled  back  into 
the  channel.  By  four  o'clock,  however,  we  had 
reached  the  point  where  the  river  banks  lose  their 
dull  monotony  and  assume  the  picturesqueness 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  Niger  Valley  to  the 
north.  Low  rounded  and  somewhat  flattened  hills 
began  to  rise  on  either  bank,  covered  with  brown 
grass  and  scattered  trees,  and  with  narrow  defiles 
between  the  hills  decorated  with  green  clusters  of 
palms.  At  the  mouth  of  each  defile  was  set  a  tiny 
village,  half-hidden  by  a  clump  of  bananas,  while 
similar  hamlets  were  dotted  over  the  hills,  each  with 
its  little  green  patch  of  guinea-corn  and  cassava. 
The  river  seemed  narrower  and  the  water  clearer, 
and  the  sandbanks  appeared  like  fairy  islands  in 
the  midst  of  the  stream,  decorated  with  green  tufts 
of  grass  and  prickly  shrubs.  On  many  of  the 
larger  banks,  moreover,  little  groups  of  travelling 

31 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

traders  had  halted  for  the  night,  their  canoes 
moored  to  stakes  by  their  sides  and  their  mats 
set  on  end  to  ward  off  the  morning  dews. 

The  harmattan  had  thickened  steadily,  and  now 
we  could  almost  feel  the  dusty  particles  floating 
in  the  air.  Our  eyes  were  smarting,  our  lips  were 
parched,  our  hands  and  faces  hot  and  dry.  A 
thick  grey  mist  settled  upon  the  banks  and  shut 
out  our  view  of  the  hills  on  either  side.  Slowly  the 
Empire  moved  ahead,  for  the  channel  was  beset 
with  many  rocky  obstructions.  Night  had  closed 
in  before  we  reached  Itobe,  and  a  bush  fire  behind 
the  town  cast  a  lurid  light  upon  the  river,  while 
the  dark  walls  and  conical  roofs  of  the  native  huts 
were  silhouetted  against  the  glare.  As  we  moved 
still  northward  in  the  darkness  the  channel  lay 
between  lofty  granite  peaks,  whose  outlines  were 
barely  visible  in  the  gloom.  Here  and  there  on 
their  slopes,  however,  the  dry  bush  grass  was  burn- 
ing red  and  low,  while  occasionally  a  flame  would 
shoot  up  and  for  a  few  seconds  illuminate  the 
mountain-side.  Higher  up  off  Igbo,  where  we 
anchored  for  the  night,  it  seemed  as  though  the 
demons  of  the  bush  were  rejoicing  at  our  coming. 
On  the  slopes  and  summits  of  the  conical  hills  on 
either  bank  their  caldron  fires  gleamed  red  and 
lurid  through  the  mist  as  they  stirred  their  brew 
of  woes  and  ills  for  the  white  intruders.  And  the 
moon  shone  dimly  through  the  milky  air,  as  if, 
powerless  to  help,  she  had  veiled  her  face  in 
sorrow  at  the  prospective  fate  of  her  pale-faced 
friends . 

32 


On  the  Niger 

Next  morning  the  harmattan  had  disappeared, 
and  the  sun  rose  clear  and  bright  to  sparkle  joy- 
fully on  the  hurrying  waters  as  they  eddied  round 
the  granite  rocks  in  the  channel.  Beyond  the 
green  line  of  grass  and  reeds  which  fringed  the 
river,  the  havoc  of  the  evening  fires  was  plainly 
visible  in  the  bare  rocks  and  the  blackened  trees  on 
the  mountain-sides.  Where  yesterday  the  mellow- 
ing grass  was  still  in  places  lush  and  green  and 
overtopped  by  shady  trees,  to-day  the  soil  was 
brown  and  bare,  and  studded  with  blackened  trunks 
and  gnarled  stems,  from  whose  skeletal  arms  there 
hung  dejectedly  a  few  scorched  and  withered 
leaves.  These  bush  fires  are  both  a  bane  and  a 
boon  to  the  countries  of  the  middle  Niger.  As 
a  direct  consequence  the  timber  is  gnarled  and 
spoilt,  and  much  that  is  of  use  in  the  forest 
destroyed.  On  the  other  hand,  swarms  of  insect 
life,  which  multiplies  so  rapidly  during  the  rains, 
are  thus  annually  cleared  away ;  and  the  country 
gains  decidedly  by  the  change. 

Small  ocean-going  steamers  can  ascend  the 
Niger  as  far  as  Lokoja  and  Baro  when  the  river 
is  in  flood,  but  even  then  navigation  is  attended 
by  many  difficulties  and  dangers.  Though  the 
river  may  rise  in  the  season  as  much  as  thirty  or 
thirty-five  feet,  it  is  as  necessary  to  keep  to  the 
channel  when  the  river  is  high  as  when  it  is  low, 
and  it  is  only  a  very  experienced  pilot  who  can  pick 
out  his  course  when  the  river-bed  is  nothing  but 
a  sheet  of  water  and  all  the  familiar  landmarks 
are    submerged.       Of     these     hazards     we     were 

33  c 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

forcibly  reminded  as,  a  few  miles  above  Igbo,  we 
passed,  hard  and  fast  upon  the  rocks,  a  small 
ocean-going  cargo  steamer  which  had  veered  a 
few  yards  out  of  its  course  when  the  river  was 
high.  Her  pointed  keel  and  unfamiliar  build 
caused  much  comment  among  the  native  crew, 
while  the  skipper,  with  his  accustomed  superiority, 
jeered  at  the  carelessness  and  stupidity  of  the 
native  pilot  who  had  run  her  on  the  rocks. 

The  granite  hills  had  now  died  down  and  given 
place  to  an  irregular  hummocky  plain  on  either 
bank.  The  buttressed  fronts  of  the  table  moun- 
tains which  guard  the  confluence  of  the  Niger  and 
the  Benue  at  first  loomed  dim  in  the  distance,  but 
gradually  became  more  defined  as  we  entered  the 
straight  reach  of  river  below  Lokoja.  Little  by 
little  also,  the  red  roofs  of  the  cantonment  came 
into  view,  with  the  white  walls  of  the  trading  stores 
beyond,  and  the  painted  decks  and  funnels  of  the 
steamers  at  the  wharf.  Soon  we  saw  the  fl,ags 
flying  gaily  over  the  Government  quarters,  and 
heard  the  mixed  music  of  the  native  buglers 
practising  their  calls  on  the  river  bank.  And  then 
the  Empire^s  siren  burst  forth  and  woke  the  echoes 
amongst  the  hills.  A  crowd  of  natives  in  cloths 
of  many  colours  rapidly  collected  on  the  beach  to 
witness  the  arrival  of  the  steamer,  while  the  skipper 
and  his  native  crew,  resplendent  in  clean  uniforms, 
swelled  visibly  with  importance,  as  the  Empire  was 
slowly  berthed  and  made  fast  at  the  Government 
wharf. 


34 


CHAPTER    II 
LOKOJA   TO   KEFFI 

"  You  may  be  jogging^  whiles  your  boots  are  gree?!." 

Lokoja  and  Mount  Patti — Carriers  and  traders — A  public  lecture 
in  the  courthouse — Departure  from  Lokoja — The  R.M.S. 
{S)Tork — Careless  navigators — The  port  of  Loko — Disem- 
barkation— A  fruitless  search  for  horses — On  foot  to  Nassar- 
awa — Wandering  traders — A  deserted  town — The  fatigues  of 
travel — A  broad  English  road — Rebuilding  the  Residency — 
Nassarawa  and  its  warrior  king — Picturesque  country — Pro- 
fessional beggars  and  native  magicians — The  discontented 
mallams  of  Keffi. 

The  native  town  and  cantonment  of  Lokoja, 
situated  as  it  is  at  the  confluence  of  the  Niger  with 
its  great  tributary,  the  Benue,  is  the  natural 
emporium  of  European  commerce  and  the  dis- 
tributing centre  for  all  the  river-borne  merchandise 
which  enters  the  Protectorate.  As  a  township  it 
cannot  claim  age  as  an  asset.  Its  history  dates 
from  1 841,  from  the  time  when  Captain  Allen 
obtained  from  the  Attar  of  Idah  a  grant  of  a  plot 
of  land  six  miles  long  by  four  miles  wide  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Niger  and  the  Benue,  whereon 
to  establish  a  model  farm.     The  venture,  however, 

35 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

proved  unsuccessful,  and  it  was  not  until  i860 
that  Dr.  Baikie  founded  the  town  of  Lokoja  on  the 
site  of  the  unlucky  model  farm  of  1841.  With  a 
few  liberated  slaves  he  established  a  small  settle- 
ment, and  gradually  induced  the  pagans  amongst 
the  neighbouring  hills  to  come  down  and  clear  and 
cultivate  the  adjoining  land.  From  this  small  be- 
ginning has  sprung  in  fifty  years  the  present  town- 
ship, which  is  now  one  of  the  most  important 
markets  in  the  Protectorate.  The  native  quarters 
are  set  farthest  north,  on  the  narrow  strip  of  land 
between  the  river  and  the  base  of  the  hills.  To 
the  south  follow  in  succession  the  traders'  stores, 
the  civil  and  military  lines,  and  the  hospital  hill, 
the  whole  dominated  by  the  wooded  crest  of  Mount 
Patti,  whose  precipitous  sides  rise  a  thousand  feet 
above  the  river,  and  from  whose  level  summit  in 
times  gone  by  the  anxious  eyes  of  the  early  settlers 
gazed  wistfully  southward  to  catch  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  long-expected  steamer. 

On  reaching  Lokoja  it  is  customary  to  report 
oneself  to  the  Cantonment  Magistrate,  whose  task 
it  is  to  find  temporary  quarters  for  new  arrivals 
and  to  provide  porters  to  carry  the  baggage  from 
the  steamer  to  the  rest-house.  As  a  rule,  watchful 
eyes  upon  the  beach  have  been  quick  to  spread 
the  news,  and  almost  as  soon  as  one  is  settled  in 
one's  quarters  the  grinning  faces  of  former  native 
friends  appear  on  the  verandah.  Their  welcome, 
however,  is  not  entirely  disinterested,  as,  besides 
hopes  of  further  service,  they  are  artful  enough  to 
expect  a  "dash"  (a  small  present)  for  their  former 

36 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

efforts,  satisfactory  or  not  as  they  may  have  been. 
Moreover,  any  casual  promise  which  may  have 
been  made  to  them  on  former  journeys  is  at  once 
remembered,  and  anxious  inquiries  are  speedily 
made  for  the  pocket-knives  or  watches  or  other 
gifts  which  constituted  the  promise.  With  so  many 
willing  helpers  messages  are  speedily  conveyed  to 
those  henchmen  of  former  days  who  happen  to  be 
in  the  vicinity,  and  long  before  nightfall  the  head- 
men are  busy  in  the  native  town  collecting  carriers 
for  the  new  expedition. 

The  carrier  or  porter  class  has  arisen  as  the 
result  of  the  coming  of  the  white  man.  Not  con- 
tent with  exploring  the  river  banks,  the  latter  struck 
out  along  the  native  tracks  to  visit  the  inland  tribes, 
and,  disdaining  to  live  entirely  as  a  native,  engaged 
a  few  men  to  accompany  him  and  carry  his  tent 
and  baggage  and  European  provisions.  As  the 
numbers  of  such  wandering  whites  increased,  a 
greater  demand  for  porters  arose  ;  and  thus  there 
sprang  up  a  class  of  men  who  live  partially  or 
entirely  on  the  fruits  of  their  labour  as  porters. 
Of  this  class  Lokoja,  the  principal  starting-point 
of  expeditions  to  the  interior,  is  the  natural  head- 
quarters, while  subordinate  centres  are  Loko  and 
Ibi  on  the  Benue  and  Zungeru  on  the  Kaduna. 
The  greater  number  of  the  porters  are  freed  or 
runaway  slaves,  who,  having  no  real  home  or 
country  of  their  own,  are  willing  to  follow  the  white 
man  wherever  he  may  go.  It  is  customary  to 
find,  therefore,  in  any  gang  of  carriers,  representa- 
tives of  many  different  tribes  ;    and  it  is  charac- 

37 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

teristic  of  the  country,  and  of  the  white  man's 
prestige  in  it,  that  in  the  company  of  a  European 
a  iporter  will  cheerfully  enter  the  domain  of  even 
his  deadliest  tribal  enemies.  For  the  sum  of  nine- 
pence,  and  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  to  seventeen  miles 
per  day,  he  will  plod  along  steadily  with  his  load 
of  sixty  pounds  or  over,  live  comfortably  and  even 
sumptuously  in  the  bush  on  threepence  per  day, 
and  hoard  the  remainder  to  spend  on  dress  and 
dissipation  in  the  first  large  town  he  enters. 

In  addition  to  the  porter  class,  the  floating 
population  of  Lokoja  includes  many  native  traders, 
who  come  from  the  north  by  way  of  the  Niger  and 
the  Benue,  to  buy  and  barter  in  the  southern 
markets.  From  the  north  they  bring  the  so-called 
potash  of  the  Sudan,  and  to  the  north  they  carry 
salt,  kola  nuts,  European  fabrics,  and  hardware 
goods.  Large  quantities  of  provisions,  moreover, 
are  daily  brought  in  by  the  neighbouring  tribes- 
men, and  thus  in  the  markets  of  Lokoja,  under  the 
eye  of  the  white  man,  the  southern  pagans  meet 
in  safety  their  hereditary  foes  of  the  north  ;  while 
the  canoes  which  of  yore  brought  armed  raiders  to 
the  region  of  the  confluence,  now  peacefully  trans- 
port the  travelling  merchants  to  the  sheltering  base 
of  Mount  Fatti. 

Besides  the  carriers  and  traders,  native  and 
European  storekeepers,  and  Government  officials, 
there  is  in  Lokoja  a  considerable  number  of 
educated  negroes — clerks,  artisans,  and  skilled 
workmen,  recruited  for  the  most  part  from 
Southern    Nigeria,    the    Gold    Coast,    and    Sierra 

38 


Lokoja  to   Keffi 


Leone,  who,  tempted  by  the  high  rate  of  pay,  are 
doing  a  term  of  service  in  the  north.  These  form 
a  class  entirely  by  themselves  ;  and  while  the  local 
natives  have  their  own  amusements,  and  the  white 
men  have  tennis,  cricket,  golf,  and  polo,  these 
foreigners  have  a  somewhat  tedious  time  after  their 
official  duties  are  over.  For  this  reason  any  enter- 
tainment organised  on  their  behalf  is  usually 
patronised  by  the  official  world.  On  the  night  of 
our  arrival  at  Lokoja  a  public  lecture  was  being 
given  in  the  courthouse  by  one  of  their  own  class, 
who  had  issued  the  following  characteristic  adver- 
tisement of  his  performance  : — 

TWO-SHILLING   TRIP   FROM   WEST   AFRICA 
TO   EUROPE. 

GRAND  TELESCOPIGRAPH   DISPLAY. 

Straight  and  striking  talks  respecting  scenes  and  life  in  the  United 
Ki?igdotn  a7id  France. 
Mr,  MERRIMAN-LABOR, 
who  is  now  touring  10,000  miles  from  London  around  Africa  and 
back,  will  lecture  on  "  Five  Years  with  the  White  Man  :  or  Scenes 
and  Life  in  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  and  France."  The  lecture 
will  be  found  to  be  witty,  chatty,  humorous,  instructive,  and  enter- 
taining.    It  will  be  accompanied  by 

LIFE-SIZE   PICTURES   FROM   A   POWERFUL 
TELESCOPIGRAPH 

specially  constructed  for  this  lecture  and  superior  to  anything  you 
have  seen  for  a  long  time. 

DON'T  MISS  THIS  TREAT. 
You  have  never  heard  the  like  before.     It  will  take  you  some  time 
to  see  the  like  again.     We  shall  have   such   a   fine   time,    hours 
together,  to-night,  commencing  9  p.m.,  at  the  Courthouse,  under 
the  chairmanship  of  the  Cantonment  Magistrate. 
Tickets  2s.  each. 
COME   AND    BRING   A   FRIEND. 

39 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

The  lecturer  began  by  saying  that  West  Africa 
differed  from  the  United  Kingdom  not  only  in  its 
terrestrial  position,  geographical  outlines,  and 
physical  features,  but  also  in  the  colour,  customs, 
and  habits  of  its  inhabitants.  He  then  went  on  tO' 
enumerate  those  features  of  European  life  and 
manners  which  had  impressed  themselves  most 
strongly  on  his  West  African  mind.  He  showed 
a  bird's-eye  view  of  London,  pointing  out  that  all 
the  roads  led  to  the  Bank,  although  some  were 
very  zigzag,  like  the  road  to  wealth.  Cheapside 
was  badly  named,  because  things  there  were  not  at 
all  cheap.  Cleopatra's  Needle,  one  of  the  works 
of  Africa,  he  had  beheld  with  a  thrill  of  pride.  In 
Westminster  Abbey  he  had  had  the  pleasure  of 
standing  upon  the  bones  of  Shakespeare,  Words- 
worth, Tennyson,  and  all  the  Kings  of  England  I 
He  was  astonished  at  the  crowds  and  the  traffic  in 
the  streets,  and  admired  immensely  the  white 
covering  of  snow  on  the  Embankment  steps  on  a 
winter's  morning.  He  was  surprised  at  seeing 
ladies  on  horseback,  dressed  in  hats  and  coats  like 
men,  at  the  public  love-making  in  the  parks,  and 
at  the  rows  and  rows  of  suburban  homes,  whose 
sameness  made  it  difficult  to  recollect  one's  house 
unless  one  remembered  the  number.  When  a 
series  of  photographs  of  military  and  naval  reviews, 
with  pictures  of  the  King  and  Queen,  were  ex- 
hibited on  the  screen,  the  whole  audience  rose  and 
sang  "  God  Save  the  King,"  and  as  the  negro  is 
nothing   if  not   loyal,   a  second   rendering   of  the 

National  Anthem  brought  the  lecture  to  a  close. 

40 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

Next  morning,  after  a  number  of  carriers  had 
been  enrolled  for  the  proposed  expedition  to  the 
bush  and  the  headmen  had  left  to  search  out  more, 
we  set  off  to  climb  Mount  Patti.  An  easy  winding* 
bridle-path  has  now  been  cut  on  the  side  of  the 
hill,  replacing  the  shorter  but  steeper  and  stonier 
native  track  of  former  days.  From  the  margin  of 
the  level  wooded  summit  a  magnificent  view  is 
obtained  of  the  confluence,  spreading  out  a  thou- 
sand feet  below  as  a  wide  expanse  of  water  dotted 
with  green  islands  and  yellow  sandbanks.  From 
the  summit  also  we  looked  down  upon  the  roofs 
and  compounds  of  the  native  town,  the  busy 
market,  the  tidy  stores,  the  shady  cantonment,  the 
steamers  at  the  wharf,  and  the  level  crest  of  the 
Bassa  hills  far  off  in  the  distance. 

It  was  a  motley  crowd  which  gathered  on  the 
beach  at  Lokoja  the  following  afternoon.  The  fifty 
carriers  included  representatives  of  the  four  prin- 
cipal nations  of  Nigeria^ — Hausa,  Yoruba,  Fulani, 
and  Kanuri.  They  had  been  engaged  for  a  six 
months'  tour  in  the  bush,  and  their  lady  friends  in 
Lokoja  had  turned  out  in  full  force  to  wish  them 
a  good  journey  and  a  speedy  return.  Each  carrier 
was  equipped  with  a  roll  consisting  of  his  sleeping 
mat,  his  pillow  and  blanket,  and  his  spare  clothes  ; 
while  in  addition  he  carried  a  bundle  of  yams  and 
other  provisions  for  the  river  journey  to  Loko. 
As  the  Benue  was  rapidly  falling,  transport  had 
been  provided  for  us  in  the  R.M.S.  {S)Tork,  one 
letter  of  whose  name  had  apparently  disappeared, 
while  a  large  native  canoe  was   lashed  on  either 

41 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

side  to  accommodate  the  carriers  and  the  baggage. 
The  (S)Tork  is  a  shallow-draught,  flat -bottomed, 
sheet-iron  steam-canoe  with  a  small  paddle-wheel 
astern,  divided  into  four  compartments  and  fitted 
with  a  roof  of  thin  matchboarding  supported  on 
iron  uprights.  The  furnace  and  the  boiler  are 
placed  in  the  front  compartment  and  the  engine 
and  steering  gear  in  the  rear,  while  the  two  middle 
compartments  are  the  living-rooms  for  Europeans. 
Ihe  furnace  is  fed  with  wood,  and  two  dilapidated 
steam-pipes  run  along  the  roof  of  the  middle  com- 
partments, thus  connecting  the  boiler  with  the 
engine,  and  incidentally  dropping  hot  water  from 
the  joints  upon  the  heads  of  any  unwary  boys  who 
may  take  their  stand  beneath.  The  kitchen  is  in 
front,  in  one  corner  of  the  furnace -room,  and  the 
smoke  from  the  wood  fire  blows  directly  into  the 
eyes  of  any  one  seated  amidships. 

With  much  blowing  of  the  whistle  and  the  usual 
^performance  of  starting  and  turning  back  re- 
peatedly to  pick  up  loiterers,  the  (S)Tork  at  last 
got  under  way.  The  pilot  stood  in  a  little  crow's 
nest  upon  the  roof  with  the  steering-wheel  in  his 
hands  ;  but  as  soon  as  we  had  passed  the  deeper  and 
more  dangerous  region  of  the  confluence,  and  were 
stemming  the  calmer  waters  of  the  Benue,  all  dis- 
cipline was  relaxed.  The  pilot  squatted  down  upon 
the  roof  and  left  the  wheel  to  the  care  of  the 
quartermaster.  The  engineer  left  the  engine  to 
pound  away  at  will,  while  he  scrambled  upon  the 
roof  to  chat  and  smoke  with  the  pilot.     Needless 

to  say,  we  soon  ran  aground  on  a  sandbank,  and 

42 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

the  engineer  clambered  hastily  down  to  stop  the 
engine,  while  the  crew  and  the  carriers  jumped 
overboard  to  push  the  little  steamer  off. 
Repeatedly  also  we  came  to  a  stop  in  quiet  water, 
as  the  result  of  the  engineer  waking  up  to  find 
the  bearings  red  hot  for  want  of  oil,  and,  time 
being  of  little  object,  we  heaved  to  until  the  engine 
cooled  ! 

The  two  compartments  of  the  steam-canoe  which 
are  reserved  for  the  accommodation  of  Europeans 
are  not  particularly  commodious.  Each  measures 
only  ten  feet  by  ten,  and  holds  little  more  than  a 
deck-chair,  a  table,  a  water-cooler,  and  a  box  of 
provisions.  Necessarily,  therefore,  the  compart- 
ment has  to  be  in  turn  bedroom,  bathroom, 
dressing-room,  dining-room,  and  sitting-room. 
Commonly,  however,  when  there  are  two  Euro- 
peans the  compartment  nearest  the  kitchen  is  made 
the  dining-room  and  the  other  the  sitting-room, 
while  each  is  occupied  as  a  bedroom  by  night.  As 
evening  fell,  a  suitable  sandbank  was  selected  to 
which  the  little  steamer  could  be  moored.  The 
carriers  and  crew  were  sent  some  distance  off  to 
eat  and  sleep  round  their  open  fires,  while,  after 
dining  on  the  sandbank,  we  claimed  the  steamer 
as  our  own  until  the  grey  dawn  began  to  brighten 
in  the  East. 

■We  had  anchored  near  Mozum,  a  large  native 
town  with  a  trading  store  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  and  the  principal  port  of  Bassa  province.  Next 
morning,  soon  after  starting,  we  stopped  at  a  small 
riverside  village  to  ship  two  cords  of  wood,  and 

43 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

then  at  Rumaisha  with  mails  for  the  Sudan  United 
Mission,  who  have  here  established  a  freed-slaves 
home.  The  river  now  seemed  to  flow  in  a  broad 
and  shallow  trough  between  two  ranges  of  flat- 
topped  hills  which  rose  in  the  distance  on  either 
bank,  decorated  by  occasional  conical  and  tabular 
peaks.  Long  straight  reaches,  moreover,  are 
characteristic  of  the  Benue,  and  in  the  evening  we 
sat  on  our  camp-chairs  on  the  roof,  and  as  the  sun 
went  down  in  a  golden  glow,  gazed  idly  at  the 
tiny  distant  blank  on  the  horizon  from  which  the 
placid  waters  of  the  river  flowed.  On  the  following; 
day  we  passed  several  trading  stations  on  the  leftf 
bank  of  the  river,  and  at  dawn  next  morning  found 
ourselves  in  sight  of  the  solitary  tree  of  Loko,  the 
landmark  of  watermen  for  miles  on  either  side. 

Loko,  originally  founded  as  a  slaving  centre  by 
the  northern  Mohammedans,  is  now  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  important  towns  on  the  banks  of 
the  Benue,  and  has  of  recent  years  very  largely 
ousted  Ibi  from  its  place  as  the  principal  starting- 
point  of  expeditions  to  Bauchi  and  Bomu.  More- 
over, since  the  opening  up  of  the  Bauchi  plateau 
and  the  development  of  the  tinfields,  Loko,  as  the 
nearest  point  on  the  river,  has  become  the  port 
of  shipment  of  the  ore  and  an  important  centre 
for  native  traders  and  carriers.  A  broad  and 
well-marked  trail  runs  from  Loko,  by  way  of 
Nassarawa  and  Kefli,  over  the  plateau  and  through 
the  tinfields  to  Bauchi,  Bornu,  and  Lake  Chad. 
Along  this  route  traders,  singly  or  in  caravans,  are 
constantly   passing,   and   the   road   may   be   found 

44 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

frequented  at  almost  any  hour  of  the  day  or  of 
a  moonlight  night.  Unfortunately  for  its  future, 
however,  the  completion  of  the  Baro-Kano  railway 
will  divert  much  of  the  transport  and  the  carrying 
trade,  and  the  importance  of  this  well-defined  route 
will  in  all  probability  rapidly  decline,  as  the  former 
trail  from  Bauchi  to  Ibi  has  already  done.  Mean- 
while, however,  Loko  is  quite  a  centre  of  civilisa- 
tion, provided  with  a  trading  store,  a  post-  and 
telegraph-office,  and  a  rest-house,  or  barikl,  for 
Europeans,  in  a  more  or  less  dilapidated  condition. 
With  much  tooting  of  the  whistle  and  shouting 
of  incoherent  commands,  the  R.M.S.  {S)Tork 
manoeuvred  into  position  and  anchored  at  the 
steeper  end  of  an  extensive  sandbank  close  to  the 
margin  of  the  river.  Steamers,  however,  are  a 
common  sight  at  Loko,  and  our  coming  aroused 
little  commotion  on  the  river  bank.  The  women 
and  girls  who  were  washing  clothes  in  the  river, 
or  who  had  come  down  to  fill  their  waterpots  from 
the  filthy  stream,  merely  paused  for  an  instant  at 
their  work,  while  a  few  loiterers  on  the  river  bank 
roused  themselves  lazily  to  gaze  at  the  steamer. 
The  carriers  jumped  ashore  with  cries  of  joy  at 
their  relief  from  their  narrow  quarters  in  the  two 
small  canoes,  and,  with  much  laughter  and  merri- 
ment, began  to  remove  my  baggage  and  provision - 
boxes  from  the  steamer  to  the  shore.  Soon  every^- 
thing  had  been  safely  moved,  and  my  companion  of 
the  last  three  days,  who  was  under  orders  to  pro- 
ceed higher  up  the  river,  was  left  alone  with  a 
little  more  space  in  which  to  make  himself  com- 

45 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

fortable.  The  carriers  then  shouldered  the  boxes, 
and  marched  through  the  dirty  riverside  town 
and  through  the  market-place  in  the  direction  of 
the  rest-house,  which,  with  the  other  Government 
buildings,  is  set  outside  and  to  the  west  of  the 
town,  and  surrounded  at  this  season  by  groves  of 
drooping  guinea-corn. 

The  headmen  were  quickly  despatched  to  find  a 
few  more  carriers  to  replace  a  number  of  undesir- 
ables in  my  troop,  while  the  interpreter  was 
instructed  to  search  the  town  for  horses  and  bring 
them  and  their  owners  to  interview  me  at  the 
bariki.  The  odd  carriers  were  easily  found,  but 
the  horses  proved  a  more  difficult  quest.  In  the 
whole  town  there  were  only  two  to  be  found — a 
broken-ankled  hack  and  a  decrepit  trader's  horse 
with  its  back  all  chafed  and  sore.  The  headman, 
or  sarlki,  of  the  town,  when  he  came  to  see  me, 
explained  that  the  past  rainy  season  had  been  par- 
ticularly bad  for  horses,  that  all  the  horses  in 
Loko  had  died  of  sickness  during  the  rains,  and 
that  the  large  trading  caravans  with  horses  to 
spare  had  not  yet  arrived  from  the  north.  The 
tsetse-fly,  whose  ravages  are  confined  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  rivers  and  to  certain  forest  belts 
during  the  dry  winter  season,  is  distributed  through- 
out all  the  southern  provinces  during  the  summer, 
and  in  consequence  it  is  almost  impossible  to  keep 
horses  with  impunity  from  one  dry  season  to 
another.  It  is  customary,  therefore,  for  both  white 
men  and  natives   to   send  valuable   horses   to  the 

open  north   during   the   rains,   and   to   have   them 

46 


Lokoja  to  KefK 


brought  south  again  at  the  beginnhig  of  the  winter. 
Similarly,  those  who  wish  to  buy  horses  in  the 
southern  provinces  at  the  end  of  the  rains  must 
wait  until  the  northern  traders  and  horse-breeders 
have  paid  their  first  visit  of  the  season  to  the 
southern  markets. 

As  there  was  no  available  horse  in  Loko,  and  as 
it  was  impossible  to  wait  there  while  one  was  being 
sent  down  from  Keffi,  I  determined  to  walk  to 
Nassarawa,  and  for  that  purpose  rose  early  the 
next  morning  at  the  first  call  of  "  Allahu  akbar  " 
from  the  mosques  of  Loko.  Everything  was  ready 
at  daybreak,  and  while  the  headmen  went  to 
summon  the  carriers  who  were  sleeping  in  the 
town,  and  the  interpreter  remained  behind  in 
charge  of  the  caravan,  I  walked  on  ahead  to  the 
first  village  of  Ushan  Rogo,  where  I  had  arranged 
to  halt  for  breakfast.  The  road  was  soft  and 
sandy,  and  after  passing  the  Loko  farms  led  over 
undulating  country  and  through  thin  and  scattered 
bush,  obscured  by  coarse  rank  grass  of  a  season's 
growth.  Occasional  belts  of  thicker  forest  crossed 
the  path,  through  the  middle  of  which  ran  clear 
and  shallow  streams.  The  carriers  had  caught  me 
up  by  the  time  the  village  clearings  had  been 
reached,  and  after  half  an  hour's  rest  we  set  out 
again  to  walk  to  the  next  river,  a  distance  of  five 
miles  or  more.  By  the  time  we  reached  it,  the  sun's 
heat  was  beginning  to  tell.  The  carriers  were 
hot  and  perspiring,  and  gladly  rested  on  the  banks 
of  the  stream,  while  my  feet  began  to  feel  heavy 
and  sore  with  the  unaccustomed  exercise.     Never- 

47 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

theless  it  was  necessary  to  push  on  to  Ita,  and 
while  the  carriers  now  went  on  ahead,  I  toiled 
painfully  behind  them,  and  it  was  with  a  sigh  of 
relief  that  at  last  we  entered  the  patch  of  forest  in 
which  the  village  was  set.  The  native  huts  were 
built  in  a  clearing,  surrounded  by  lofty  evergreen 
trees  and  well -grown  and  graceful  feather -palms. 
Patches  of  tobacco  and  broad-leaved  bananas  grew 
in  the  odd  spaces  between  the  huts,  while  the  pagan 
inhabitants  gazed  stolidly  at  the  new-comers  or 
sucked  their  long-stemmed  pipes  resignedly  as  the 
column  filed  along  the  narrow  path  between  the 
houses.  My  tent  was  pitched  near  the  ju-ju-tree, 
beside  a  low  fan-palm,  while  the  villagers  brought 
wood  and  water,  fruit,  eggs,  and  fowls  for  the  white 
man,  and  opened  their  storehouses  to  find  the  grain 
from  which  to  prepare  the  evening  meal  for  the 
carriers. 

I  was  roused  in  the  night  by  the  noise  of  the 
traders  passing  out  of  the  village  in  the  early  moon- 
light, such  little  as  there  was.  Long  distances  are 
covered  by  these  wandering  merchants,  and,  wisely 
enough,  they  prefer  to  go  by  night  when  there  is 
sufficient  moon  to  light  their  path.  They  carry  for 
themselves  loads  which  are  much  heavier  than  the 
regulation  sixty  pounds  of  Government  carriers. 
On  the  other  hand,  though  they  cover  the  same  and 
even  a  greater  distance  per  day,  they  do  it  in  their 
own  time  and  in  their  own  way.  A  Government 
carrier  is  expected  to  do  his  fifteen  or  seventeen 
miles  per  day  at  a  single  march,  with  short  rests 

for  food  and  water,  so  that  the  European  whose 

48 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 


baggage  he  carries,  may  reach  his  destination 
before  the  hottest  part  of  the  day  has  come.  The 
trader,  however,  has  no  particular  desire  to  shun 
the  sunshine  as  the  white  man  does,  and  while 
he  starts  earlier,  his  halts  are  more  frequent  and 
for  longer  periods  at  a  time.  His  forked  resting- 
trees  in  which  he  fixes  his  load  when  he  makes  a 
halt,  are  characteristic  features  of  every  trade  route, 
while  every  shady  tree  by  the  wayside  is  in  turn 
utilised  as  a  shelter  when  the  sun  is  high. 

With  the  first  streak  of  dawn  the  cocks  began 
to  crow,  and  by  six  o'clock  we  were  once  more  on 
the  march,  over  undulating  sandy  country,  covered 
with  high  grass  and  scrubby  trees.  The  grass  was 
yellow  and  dry,  in  places  overhanging  the  path, 
and  almost  ready  for  the  annual  fires  which  clear 
the  bush  and  scorch  the  trees  and  remove  the  last 
leaves  of  summer  from  the  gnarled  boughs.  The 
height  of  the  grass  made  it  impossible  to  see  far 
ahead,  and  it  was  only  when  the  winding  path 
crossed  the  broad  clearing,  along  the  middle  of 
which  ran  the  telegraph  poles  and  wires,  that  a 
distant  view  of  lofty  treetops  could  be  obtained 
from  the  crests  of  the  undulations.  Soon  we 
passed  the  ruined  wall  and  ditch  of  some  former 
town,  which,  from  the  length  of  the  rampart,  must 
once  have  been  of  considerable  size.  In  places 
such  deserted  sites  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and 
it  is  sad  to  speculate  on  the  cause  of  their  decay. 
In  some  cases  a  deadly  plague  mowed  down  the 
inhabitants  with  ruthless  hand,  and  the  few  that 
escaped  fled   in   terror   from   the   accursed   place. 

49  i> 


On   Horseback   through   Nigeria 

At  other  times,  and  perhaps  equally  frequently, 
the  armed  horsemen  of  the  north  raided  these 
peaceful  pagan  haunts,  overcame  the  faint  resist- 
ance, put  the  leaders  to  the  sword,  and  carried 
off  the  whole  tribe  into  captivity.  A  few  refugees 
may  afterwards  return  to  live  a  sad  and  lonely 
life  within  the  ruined  walls  ;  and  this,  it  seemed, 
was  what  had  happened  in  the  case  of  Obe,  where 
we  stopped  for  breakfast,  and  which  is  now  a 
shrunken  saddened  relic  of  its  former  self. 

From  the  rising  ground  behind  Obe  we  saw  in 
the  distance  the  southernmost  kopjes  of  the 
Anagoda  hills,  at  the  base  of  whose  western  slopes 
our  camp  was  to  be  pitched  that  day.  Two  hours 
later  we  reached  a  river  flowing  westward  from  the 
hills,  and  while  we  rested  on  its  banks  I  amused 
myself  by  watching  the  passers-by.  First  came  a 
gang  of  carriers  from  the  tin-mines  of  Bauchi, 
well  fed  and  well  dressed,  each  with  a  neat  little 
sack  of  tinstone  on  his  head  whose  bulk  belied 
its  weight.  Then  came  the  family  party  of  a  Hausa 
trader  from  the  north — a  man,  two  women,  and 
two  children.  A  little  girl  led  the  way,  carrying 
a  tiny  load  weighted  to  her  size  ;  then  the  women, 
each  perspiring  under  heavier  loads,  and  one  with 
a  baby  slung  tightly  on  her  back ;  and  behind 
came  the  lord  and  master,  in  a  gown  that  had  seen 
better  days,  a  stout  bludgeon  in  his  hand,  and  on 
his  head  a  light  bundle  of  mats  and  clothes.  With 
a  cheerful  Sana,  sana!  ("  Hail,  hail  !  ")  he  passed 
on  his  way,  followed  by  a  small  caravan  of  ten  or 
fifteen  donkeys,  each  laden  with  bags  of  kangwa 

50 


Lokoja   to  Keffi 


(potash)  and  guided  by  five  or  six  uncouth 
figures  from  the  north,  while  the  owner  came 
behind  with  his  women,  leading  an  emaciated  pony 
whose  sallet  days  had  long  gone  by.  As  each 
party  crossed  the  river  they  stopped  to  drink  and 
rest  on  the  farther  bank,  where  a  few  rude  shelters 
of  grass  and  twigs  marked  the  former  halting-place 
of  some  benighted  caravan. 

Meanwhile  my  carriers  had  moved  on  to  the 
rest-house  at  Gidan  Dutsi,  a  mile  to  the  north, 
and,  after  an  hour's  rest,  I  struggled  painfully  after 
them.  "  Not  my  spirits  but  my  feet  were  weary;  " 
and  on  the  hot  and  sandy  roads  the  very  air  seemed 
to  vibrate  under  the  noonday  sun.  Everything 
was  forgotten,  however,  as  the  camp  came  in  sight, 
with  its  promise  of  refreshment  and  repose  ;  and 
in  the  evening,  when  all  was  quiet,  I  sat  at  my  tent- 
door  in  the  moonlight,  blessing  the  makers  of 
whisky  and  sparklet,  and  thinking  of  the  happy 
days  to  come  when  the  tsetse  belts  would  be  left 
behind  and  I  should  be  able  to  accomplish  the  daily 
journeys  on  horseback  without  unnecessary  fatigue, 
when — 

"  Jack  shall  have  Jill, 

Nought  shall  go  ill. 
The  man  shall  have  his  mare  again 

And  all  shall  be  well." 

The  Anagoda  hills  rise  abruptly  from  the  level 
plain,  and  the  rest-house  and  camping-ground  at 
Gidan  Dutsi  are  set  at  the  base  of  their  steep 
granite  slopes.  The  pagans  who  cultivate  the  sur- 
rounding plains  have  their  homes  amongst  the  hills, 

51 


On   Horseback   through   Nigeria 

and  they  and   their   stores   of   food  are   therefore 
ordinarily    inaccessible    to    passing    caravans    and 
traders.     At  my  request,  however,  the  village  head- 
man brought  down  a  small  supply  of  food,  sufficient 
with   the   meal    they   carried   to    provide   a   scanty 
supper  for  the  carriers.     Naturally,  however,  they 
had  no   desire   to   linger   in    such   an   inhospitable 
place,    and    consequently    were    early    astir    next 
morning,  eager  to  push  on  at  once  to  Nassarawa. 
We  moved  off  before  six  o'clock,  and  for  a  time 
travelled  along  the  broad  road  which  the  Public 
Works    Department    have    cleared    from    Loko    to 
Keffi,  with  the  object  of  encouraging  the  wheeled 
transport  of  tinstone  and  other  goods.     It  is  curious 
to  note,  however,   the  antipathy  of  the  native  to 
English-made  roads.     Although  the  latter  may  be 
more  direct  from  point  to  point,  the  native  prefers 
the  narrow  winding  bush  track  of  his  ancestors,; 
and,  travelling  on  foot  as  I  was,   I  found  it  easy 
to  appreciate  his  point  of  view.     In  bush  country 
there    is    nothing    more    tedious    than    journeying 
along   a   broad,    straight,    and   open    road   with   a 
distant   view   steadily   in   front.      A   winding   bush 
track,  with  possible  surprises  at  every  turn,  is  much 
less  wearisome,  while  the  shade  of  the  occasional 
overhanging  trees  is  agreeable  and  delightful,  even 
though  one  cannot  linger  to  enjoy  it.     Moreover, 
the  native  paths  are  designed  to  cross  or  pass  all 
the  available  streams  and  waterholes,  so  necessary 
to  the  natives  on  hot  and  dusty  days  ;    while  thte' 
English-made  roads,  also  designedly,  run  as  much 
as  possible  along  the  watersheds,  in  order  to  avoid 

52 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

the  deep  cuttings  which  the  rivers  and  streams  as 
a  rule  have  made  in  the  level  surface  of  the  plains. 
The  native  path  which  we  were  following  at  first 
crossed  and  recrossed  the  broad  English  road,  until 
ultimately,  as  we  entered  stony  country,  the  latter 
struck  off  to  the  east  to  avoid  the  hills,  while  the 
bush  track  went  straight  ahead  to  Nassarawa  over 
rapidly  undulating  country,  steadily  rising  and 
stony.  We  breakfasted  on  the  second  last  rise,  and 
from  the  summit  of  the  next  we  looked  across  the 
shallow  valley  of  the  Nassarawa  River,  all  cleared 
and  cultivated,  to  where  on  the  horizon  a  long 
streak  of  green  marked  the  site  of  the  city.  An 
Assistant  Resident  is  usually  stationed  here,  and 
his  house  is  built  on  the  summit  of  the  ridge  to  the 
east  of  the  town.  While  the  carriers  stopped  to 
bathe  in  the  river,  I  pushed  on  ahead  to  the 
Gidan  Judgie  ("  house  of  the  Resident  "),  and  as  I 
passed  through  a  tiny  hamlet  outside  the  walls  of 
the  town  a  leper  courteously  directed  me  on  my 
way.  Then,  again,  as  I  came  to  cross-roads  an 
aged  woman  equally  courteously  answered  me : 
"  Hanyar  bariki  ko?  To.  So  sail  So  sail " 
("  The  road  to  the  rest-house?  Yes.  Straight  on  ! 
Straight  on!"),  as  she  pointed  straight  onward 
with  her  arm.  When  we  reached  the  bariki  we 
found  that  the  judge,  or  political  officer,  had  gone 
on  tour  in  his  division  while  a  new  house  was  being 
built  for  him  by  the  natives.  The  mud  walls  were 
finished  and  the  floor  was  now  being  made,  a  work 
iwhich  evidently  provided  occupation  for  about  a 
hundred    women.      Some    were    carrying    pebbles, 

53 


On   Horseback   through   Nigeria 

others  mud,  others  water,  while  many  were  beating 
the  floor  with  flattened  sticks  and  shouting  and 
singing  as  they  kept  time  to  the  music  with  their 
blows.  The  noise  and  din  went  on  unceasingly, 
until  in  despair  at  three  o'clock  I  gave  my  boys 
some  cowries  to  scatter  in  the  courtyard,  after  a 
scramble  for  which  the  women  departed  and  left 
me  in  peace  and  quietude. 

Nassarawa  is  a  large  and  populous  town  with 
a  mixed  Hausa  and  pagan  population,  and  the 
country  all  round  as  far  as  one  can  see  has  been 
cleared  and  farmed.  There  are  few  large  trees 
except  in  the  town  itself,  which  is  shady  and  cool. 
The  streets  are  lined  with  trees,  and  the  com- 
pounds are  surrounded  by  matting,  except  those  of 
the  chiefs,  which  are  bounded  by  clay  walls.  Each 
compound  is  provided  with  a  public  entrance -hall 
or  zauri,  a  circular  hut  with  two  doors,  one  leading 
outwards  to  the  street  and  the  other  inwards  to  the 
private  apartments  within  the  compound.  The  city 
walls  are  low  and  worn  and  evidently  long  dis- 
used, and  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The 
sariki,  or  king,  of  Nassarawa  has  been  a  great 
warrior  in  his  time,  and,  himself  secure,  before  the 
coming  of  the  British,  had  ravaged  and  conquered 
all  the  country  southward  to  the  Benue  and  west- 
ward to  the  Niger.  He  had  even  carried  his  vic- 
torious arms  northward  to  the  walls  of  Keffl,  and 
was  on  the  point  of  attacking  this  rival  State  when 
the  English  came,  and  he  wisely  determined  to 
throw  in  his  lot  with  them.  Now,  being  old  and 
corpulent,  he  devotes  himself  to  agricultural  pur- 

54 


Lokoj 


a  to   Keffi 


suits,  and  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  he  had  gone  to 
spend  the  day  upon  his  farms  at  some  little  distance 
from  the  town.  One  of  his  henchmen,  however, 
waited  on  me  and  brought  me  fowls,  eggs,  yams, 
water,  and  firewood,  and  everything  else  that  I 
required.  Next  day,  while  I  rested  in  the  bariki, 
the  old  warrior  himself  came  to  see  me,  and  I 
lost  no  time  in  preferring  my  request  that,  as  I  was 
in  a  hurry  to  reach  Bauchi,  he  should  either  sell  me 
a  horse  or  lend  me  one  to  ride  as  far  as  Kefh.  In 
reply,  he  said  that  his  horses  also  had  almost  all 
died  during  the  past  season,  that  several  of  them 
were  still  sick,  and  that  he  had  none  for  sale 
suitable  for  me  to  ride.  He  had,  however,  a  small 
pony  at  one  of  his  bush  farms  which  he  would  lend 
me  with  pleasure  as  far  as  Keffi,  if  that  would  be 
of  any  use.  I  thanked  him  for  his  offer,  and  asked 
him  to  be  so  good  as  to  see  that  it  was  sent  up 
to  the  bariki  by  dawn  next  morning. 

Soon  after  six  o'clock  we  turned  our  backs  on 
Nassarawa,  the  carriers  racing  merrily  along,  while 
I  rode  behind  them  on  the  sariki's  pony,  accom- 
panied by  a  horseboy  gaudily  dressed  in  gown  and 
turban  and  sword.  The  road  led  through  open 
country,  covered  with  brown  grass  and  scattered 
trees,  the  coarse  bush  grass  growing  from  five  to 
six  feet  high,  with  the  flowering  stems,  stiff  and 
flexible  like  canes,  rising  to  a  height  of  twelve 
or  fifteen  feet.  In  one  shallow  valley,  where  the 
grass  had  been  already  burnt  and  the  trees 
scorched  and  blackened,  the  young  green  shoots 
were  already  growing  from  the  old  tufty  roots,  and 

55 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

a  herd  of  cows  in  the  distance  were  picturesquely, 
browsing  upon  the  herbage.  We  breakfasted  at 
Zomaji,  a  restaurant  town,  where  the  women  sat 
in  rows  on  either  side  of  the  road  selling  calabashes 
of  cooked  food  to  the  numerous  passers-by.  Then 
we  met  a  large  caravan  of  porters  and  donkeys 
carrying  tinstone  from  the  tinfields  of  Bauchi  to  the 
river  at  Loko.  Many  of  my  carriers  recognised 
former  friends  amongst  the  crowd,  and  as  they 
passed  they  stopped  for  a  minute  to  grasp  hands 
and  exchange  the  usual  salutations  :  "  Ah, 
Mama!—Ah-ah,  Owdu !—Lafla?—Lafia?~Lafia  lau. 
—Sal  lafia.—Madala! ''  ("Ah,  Mama  !— Ah-ah, 
Owdu  !— Are  you  well  ?— Are  you  well?— Quite  well. 
— Quite  well  .—Good  !") .  Presently  we  met  a 
former  horseboy  of  my  own,  who  greeted  me  most 
profusely  and  begged  hard  to  be  allowed  to  follow 
me  again,  a  request  to  which,  to  his  delight,  I  at 
last  consented.  The  track  led  over  gently  undulat- 
ing country  through  farmland  old  and  new,  through 
strips  of  forest  along  the  banks  of  the  streams, 
where  the  doves  cooed  and  the  monkeys  chattered 
incessantly,  and  over  the  watercourses,  now  nearly 
dry,  and  marked  by  strings  of  pools  where  white 
and  yellow  water-lilies  grew  luxuriantly,  sur- 
rounded by  banks  of  convolvulus  and  petunia.  The 
villages,  which  now  became  fairly  frequent,  were 
easily  distinguished  as  oases  of  green  in  the  light 
brown  landscape.  The  guinea-corn  was  here 
rapidly  ripening,  and  in  places  the  villagers  were 
literally  "  hewing  the  harvest,"  for  the  stalks  were 
fifteen    to    twenty    feet    in    height    and    strong    as 

56 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

bamboos.  The  men  cut  and  dry  the  corn  on  the 
farms,  and  the  women  carry  the  heads  home  in 
bundles  to  the  granaries,  while  the  thinner  stems 
are  used  as  firewood  and  the  thicker  as  supports  for 
the  thatched  roofs  of  the  native  huts.  At  Lamingo, 
where  we  camped,  preparations  were  being  made 
for  killing  a  cow  in  the  market-place,  and  the 
butchers  were  drumming  and  shouting  to  advertise 
the  fact.  A  gaudily  dressed  professional  beggar 
kept  calling  for  alms  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd, 
while  a  wretched  creature  with  a  withered  leg 
crawled  painfully  to  the  door  of  my  tent  and  on 
receipt  of  sixpence  moved  slowly  off,  rejoicing  at 
my  generosity  and  muttering  prayers  for  my  future 
happiness.  Then  a  troop  of  native  magicians,  ven- 
triloquists, and  wonder-workers,  dressed  in  barbaric 
costumes,  came  on  the  scene  and  performed  their 
little  feats  before  my  tent  in  the  hope  of  a  large 
reward.  The  old  king,  whom  I  had  seen  before, 
quite  failed  to  recognise  me,  and  begged  to  be  ex- 
cused for  his  remissness.  So  many  Europeans 
passed  through  his  town,  and  to  him  all  white  men 
looked  the  same  ! 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  begging  is  quite  a  recog- 
nised profession  amongst  the  Hausa  tribes.  As  in 
the  case  of  ordinary  crafts,  moreover,  it  is  a  heredi- 
tary vocation  with  a  limited  membership,  the 
customs  and  rules  of  the  profession  being  carefully 
handed  down  from  father  to  son.  The  professional 
beggar  is  usually  sleek  and  well  dressed,  and 
travels  from  town  to  town  with  a  numerous  retinue. 
He  frequents  the  market-place  when  it  is  crowded, 

57 


On   Horseback   through   Nigeria 

and  parades  up  and  down  exhibiting  his  finery  and 
calHng  out  in  a  loud  voice  the  praises  of  the  donors 
in  other  towns.  Suddenly  he  stops  in  front  of  a 
prosperous-looking  merchant  or  a  well-dressed 
chief,  and,  addressing  the  unhappy  individual  by 
name,  implores  him  in  the  name  of  Allah  to  present 
him  with  the  article  of  use  or  ornament  which  he 
has  seen  and  covets .  Rarely  is  his  request  refused, 
however  exorbitant  it  may  be,  for  the  astute  beggar 
knows  his  power.  On  the  least  sign  of  hesitation 
on  the  part  of  the  owner  he  threatens  to  brand 
him  as  a  stingy  man,  and  to  spread  his  reputation 
far  and  wide  as  one  who  was  so  mean  as  to  refuse 
a  small  donation  to  one  of  Allah's  chosen  beggars. 
This  usually  has  the  desired  effect,  for  a  reputation 
for  meanness  is  that  which  a  petty  trader  most  of 
all  desires  to  avoid.  He  hands  over  his  turban  or 
gown,  or  sword  or  ring,  or  whatever  may  have 
been  demanded,  with  the  best  grace  that  he  can 
muster,  while  the  artful  beggar  at  once  begins  to 
call  down  the  blessings  of  Allah  upon  his  head, 
and  urges  the  bystanders  to  imitate  his  generosity 
and  present  him  out  of  their  abundance  with  as 
[  much  as  they  can  spare. 

We  left  Lamingo  at  dawn  and  travelled  north- 
ward towards  KefH,  through  well-cleared  and 
cultivated  country,  with  occasional  hamlets  sur- 
rounded by  patches  of  guinea-corn,  millet,  cassava, 
yams,  tobacco,  cotton,  and  indigo.  We  met  many 
people  coming  from  Keffi  and  many  caravans  of 
potash  and  tinstone  bound  for  Loko  from  the  north. 
A    string    of    ten   blind    folks — men,    women,    and 

58 


^ 


Lokoja  to  Keffi 

children,  all  well  laden,  passed  us,  tramping 
merrily  along  the  footpath.  Many  herds  of  cows 
were  grazing  in  the  distance,  and  now  and  again 
we  passed  droves  of  bullocks,  sheep,  and  goats  on 
the  way  to  the  markets  of  Keffi.  The  city  showed 
first  as  a  strip  of  green  on  the  horizon,  with  the 
Residency,  a  brick-built  bungalow,  on  a  low  rise 
to  the  east.  Its  population,  of  a  mixed  Hausa, 
Fulani,  and  pagan  stock,  is  somewhat  greater  than 
that  of  Nassarawa.  Its  market  is  large  and  im- 
portant, and  its  mosque  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
Protectorate.  Before  the  advent  of  the  British, 
Keffi  was  noted  principally  for  its  slave-market, 
and  after  their  coming  it  long  remained  a  centre 
of  disafi"ection  towards  British  rule.  It  was  here 
that  in  the  early  years  Captain  Maloney,  the  first 
British  Resident,  was  treacherously  murdered  by 
the  natives,  and  a  monument  to  his  memory  stands 
opposite  the  mosque  in  the  market -square.  At  a 
later  date  also,  when  the  Hausa  States  were  sub- 
dued, it  was  the  Magaji  of  Keffi  who  urged  the 
Emir  Muslimin  to  make  a  last  stand  at  Burmi, 
and,  when  his  master  was  slain,  fled  precipitately 
from  the  country.  Even  now  the  mallams  of 
Keffi  look  darkly  and  discontentedly  at  the  white 
men  who  have  displaced  the  old  regime ;  and 
largely  for  this  reason  Keffi  has  been  made  the 
seat  of  government  of  Nassarawa  province  and 
the  headquarters  of  the  provincial  guard. 


59 


CHAPTER    III 

THE   BAUCHT   PLATEAU 

"  Bed  in  the  bush  with  stars  to  see, 
Bread  I  dip  in  the  river— 
There^s  the  life  for  a  man  like  me. 
There's  the  life  for  ever.''' 

A  bush  camp — A  trader's  zungo — A  deserter — Christmas  Eve — 
Market  day  at  Jaginde — The  margin  of  the  plateau — The  Sho- 
sho  people — Rectangular  compounds  and  cactus  hedges — The 
tailed  women  of  the  hills — Peculiarities  of  the  natives — Chilly, 
nights — Striking  scenery — The  summit  of  the  plateau — The 
descent  to  Polchi — The  discovery  of  tinstone  on  the  plateau — 
The  settlement  of  Naraguta — Doubtful  reception  by  the  natives 
of  Ngell. 

Horses  being  more  plentiful  at  Keffi,  I  had  little 
difficulty  in  securing  a  mount  and  was  therefore 
able  to  send  back  the  sarikin  Nassarawa's  pony 
as  promised.  Many  of  the  carriers  had  gone  into 
the  town  to  sleep  and  were  consequently  late  in 
appearing  in  the  morning.  I  went  on  ahead,  how- 
ever, and  soon  after  leaving  the  rest-house  crossed 
the    Keffi    River,    flowing   southward    through    fine 

open  parklike  country,  dotted  with  numerous  ham- 

60 


The   Bauchi  Plateau 

lets  set  in  clusters  of  trees  and  surrounded  by  walls 
of  matting  and  patches  of  ripening  guinea-corn. 
A  thin  harmattan  cast  a  light  grey  mist  in  the 
distance  ;  and  the  morning  sun,  as  it  rose  above  a 
narrow  bank  of  cloud  on  the  horizon,  shone  through 
it  like  a  crimson  ball.  Gradually  as  it  climbed 
the  heavens,  the  crimson  changed  to  burnished 
gold  and  then  to  the  glittering  rays  of  the  noon- 
day sun.  I  stopped  at  a  wayside  village  while 
the  lagging  carriers  came  up,  and  then  pushed  on 
to  Ungwar  Filani  through  strips  of  thin  bush  alter- 
nating with  patches  of  farm  land  and  fallow.  There 
was  no  rest-house  or  even  a  good  zauri  available, 
so  J  camped  outside  the  village  altogether.  The 
sariki  or  headman  was  absent,  having  gone  to 
Bauchi  to  buy  cows,  but  his  deputy,  the  madaikl^ 
brought  me  fowls  and  milk  and  guinea-corn  and 
arranged  for  the  housing  and  feeding  of  the 
carriers . 

It  is  good  to  be  camped  in  the  bush  under  a 
shady  tree,  amidst  the  short  grass  and  the  wild 
flowers  of  the  fallow  land,  with  the  insects  singing 
in  the  sunshine,  the  birds  chirping  in  the  shadow, 
and  the  doves  cooing  in  the  distance.  From  the 
village  comes  the  sound  of  the  crowing  of  cocks, 
the  occasional  barking  of  dogs,  the  pounding  of 
guinea -corn  in  the  wooden  mortars,  the  grinding 
of  corn  and  the  beating  of  fou-fou  (mashed  yams) 
in  the  compounds.  There  is  a  pleasant  breeze  to 
temper  the  heat  and  the  leaves  and  the  grass  rustle 
as  the  wind  blows  stronger,  while  the  harmattan 

is  not  yet  thick  enough  to  be  unpleasant.      It  is 

6i 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

like  a  warm  summer  afternoon  at  home,  and  pre- 
sently the  lowing  of  cattle  in  the  evening  will  make 
it  seem  still  more  homelike.  I  stretched  out 
luxuriously  on  my  camp-bed  in  the  shadow  of  my 
tent,  and  thought  of  the  forest  of  Arden,  and  could 
almost  hear  Jacques  singing — 


**  Under  the  greenwood  tree 
Who  loves  to  lie  with  me, 
And  tune  his  merry  note 
To  the  sweet  bird's  throat, 
Come  hither,  come  hither,  come  hither." 


And  the  golden  sun  went  down  in  a  crimson  glow ; 

and  as  it  rose  in  the  morning,  so  it  sank  at  night, 

behind  a  bank  of  dark  grey  cloud  which  fringed 

the  western  sky. 

We  left  our  pleasant  camping-ground  at  an  early 

hour  and  moved  northward  to  Linkoro.     There  was 

little  cultivation  by  the  way,   and   we   passed  for 

the   most   part   through  thin   orchard   bush   rising 

from  a   brown  grassy  floor,   in   places   burnt  and 

black.      We   camped   at   some   distance   from   the 

village  and  close  to  a  stream  which  flowed  past 

the  ruined  walls  of  an  ancient  town.     Underneath 

the  large  trees  which  fringed  the  banks,  the  grass 

and  undergrowth  had  been  cleared  and  burnt  and 

a  number  of  tiny  shelters   erected  to  serve  as  a 

zungon  fatake,  or  trader's  halting-place.    I  pitched 

my  tent  by  the  roadside,  while  the  carriers  lazily 

spent  the  heat  of  the  day  beneath  the  shady  trees. 

By  and  by  there  came  a  line  of  traders  stepping 

62 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

northward  with  loads  of  kola -nuts  and  cloth  from 
the  markets  of  the  south.  Then  a  caravan  of 
donkeys  passed  southward  to  Keffi,  heavily  laden 
with  the  potash  of  the  north.  Some  of  the  accom- 
panying traders  led  young  and  agile  ponies,  while 
others  drove  before  them  small  flocks  of  goats, 
or  sheep,  or  bullocks.  Curiously  enough,  many  of 
the  men  carried  pieces  of  meat  or  bone,  and 
presently  there  came  three  donkeys  with  the  legs 
and  haunches  of  a  bullock  securely  roped  above 
their  loads.  The  explanation  came  later,  when  my 
interpreter  informed  me  that  a  trader's  bullock  had 
died  of  exhaustion  by  the  wayside  and  its  owners 
had  immediately  stopped,  cut  it  up,  and  offered 
it  for  sale  on  the  highway.  Many  traders  had  now 
halted  for  the  night  at  our  camp,  and  amongst  them 
and  the  carriers  the  men  with  the  legs  and 
haunches  soon  found  a  ready  market  for  their 
meat. 

The  night  was  delightfully  cold,  and  after  a 
sound,  refreshing  sleep  I  woke  the  camp  at  five 
a.m.  One  carrier  had  deserted  in  the  night,  whom 
the  headmen  had  reported  the  previous  day 
because  "  he  humbugged  them  too  much  for 
road."  This  meant  that  he  was  slow  and  lazy 
and  refused  to  do  what  the  headmen  asked  of  him. 
He  had  promised  to  amend  and  work  better,  but 
evidently  he  had  revised  his  decision  during  the 
night  and  decamped.  Fortunately,  however,  a 
substitute  was  at  hand  and  no  time  was  lost  in 
getting  under  way.  The  road  led  through  thin 
bush,    with    the    grass    below    for    the    most    part 

63 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

burnt  and  beginning  to  sprout  again.  The  trees 
were  bare  and  leafless  except  along  the  water- 
courses, where  their  spreading  summits  rose  fresh 
and  green  above  a  dense  undergrowth  of  fan- 
palms  and  creeping  lianes,  luscious  grass  and 
scattered  wild  flowers.  Such  strips  of  greenery- 
are  pleasant  to  pass  and  most  refreshing  to  the 
eye  after  the  dreary  monotony  of  the  bare  and 
blackened  bush. 

The  road  now  became  rapidly  undulating  and 
in  places  rough  and  stony.  The  carriers  went  well 
all  morning,  one  sturdy  man  in  front  cheering  them 
on  with  the  notes  of  a  ram's  horn.  We  camped 
at  Kwakwassa  about  eleven,  and  there  I  occupied 
a  hut  which  smelt  strongly  of  smoke  and  soot  and 
had  long  black  cobwebs  hanging  from  the  roof, 
but  was  otherwise  fairly  clean.  The  village  was 
small,  and  had  been  originally  founded  by  a  party 
of  Hausa  slave-hunters  from  Zaria.  The  old  king 
who  brought  me  fowls  and  guinea-corn,  informed 
me  that  before  the  English  came  he  used  to  raid 
the  pagans  of  the  Mada  country  to  the  east,  and 
sell  the  slaves  for  four  or  five  pounds  each  to 
traders  going  north  to  Zaria  or  south  to  Loko  and 
Ilorin.  He  was  sorry  that  the  English  had  come, 
for  now  his  business  was  gone  and  he  had  per- 
force to  devote  himself  to  agriculture  and  petty 
trading. 

It  was  now  Christmas  Eve,  and  after  dinner,  as 

I  sat  in  my  pyjamas  at  the  door  of  the  old  slaver's 

hut  under  the  starry  sky,  I  thought  of  home,  of  the 

brilliantly  lighted  streets,  of  the  gay  shop-windows, 

64 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

of  cosy  rooms  and  cheerful  company,  and  again 
of  winter  overcoats  and  heavy  furs,  of  driving  snow 
and  raging  winds.  Here  in  the  quiet  village,  how- 
ever, the  only  sounds  were  the  hissing  and  chirp- 
ing of  the  insects  and  the  distant  voices  of  the 
carriers  as  they  talked  and  laughed  around  their 
smouldering  fires.  'Tis  said  that  use  breeds  habit 
in  a  man  ;  but  in  spite  of  philosophy  there  was 
a  feeling  of  loneliness  in  the  air,  and,  somewhat 
earlier  than  usual,  I  turned  down  an  empty 
glass  and  sought  repose  within  the  darkness  of 
the  hut. 

The  carriers  were  astir  at  cockcrow,  and  at  dawn, 
with  much  shouting  and  talking,  we  left  the  village 
and  set  out  upon  our  march  to  Jaginde.  Christmas 
morning  broke  bright  and  clear  with  a  pleasant 
chill  in  the  air,  while  the  sun  rose  hastily  in  the 
east,  blushing  as  though  it  had  slept  too  long. 
Where  the  bush  was  burnt,  the  leafless  trees  of 
fantastic  shapes,  with  their  rugged  blackened  bark, 
were  silhouetted  against  the  clear  blue  sky.  Else- 
where the  fallen  leaves  and  withered  grass  were 
touched  with  gold,  while  the  long  shadows  fell 
athwart  the  path,  chequering  its  sandy  surface  with 
yellow  and  brown.  Along  the  watercourses  the 
golden  rays  of  the  rising  sun  lit  up  the  green 
recesses,  while  the  birds  twittered  in  the  morning 
air  and  the  doves  cooed  their  messages  of  goodwill 
to  men.  The  carriers  went  along  merrily,  some 
singing  and  chanting  with  their  fellows,  others 
indulging  in  rude   banter  and  repartee,  while  the 

headmen  lustily  shouted  their  characteristic  calls  : 

65  E 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

"  Teffial  teffia!  agamma!  agamma!  achika! 
achika!  sanuku!  galsheka!  teffia!  "  ("  Go  on  1  go 
on!  altogether!  altogether!  close  up !  close  up  ! 
hail  to  you  !  hail  !  go  on  !  ")  We  rested  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jaginde  River,  and  beyond  it  we  found 
the  bush  largely  unburnt.  Time  and  again  we 
crossed  extensive  grassy  treeless  stretches  whose 
grey-black  soil  becomes  swamp-land  in  the  rains. 
We  passed  in  the  pleasant  shadow  of  a  pair  of 
smooth  and  rounded  granite  kopjes,  separated  by 
a  pass  on  the  level  of  the  plain  and  with  their 
bases  strewn  with  fallen  blocks  and  boulders.  As 
we  advanced,  even  the  scrubby  trees  became  scarcer 
and  scarcer,  and  the  eye  roamed  far  over  the  open 
plain,  over  stretches  of  yellow  prairie-grass  waving 
in  the  sun  like  the  ripened  cornfields  of  home. 
With  the  trees  the  shade  also  became  scarcer  and 
scarcer :  whiter  and  hotter  glowed  the  sun  : 
brighter  and  brighter  gleamed  the  sandy  path : 
shorter  and  blacker  grew  the  shadows,  and  yet  we 
jogged  merrily  on,  for  there  in  front  of  us  were 
the  hills  behind  Jaginde  with  their  promise  of  clear 
streams  and  cooling  breezes.  Moreover,  it  was 
market  day  in  Jaginde,  and  what  is  heat  and  dust 
and  travel  when  food  and  rest  and  comfort  are  in 
sight  1  With  song  and  jest  and  laughter  the 
carriers  moved  gaily  along,  for  were  not  fura,' 
tuo,2  nono,3  nama,4  dankali,5  and  all  other  varieties 
of  meat  and  drink  waiting  to  be  bought  in  the 
market,    besides    clothes    and    mats    and    trinkets 

'  Meal  and  milk.  ^  Meal  and  water. 

3  Sour  milk.  *  Beef.  5  Sweet  potatoes. 

66 


The   Bauchi  Plateau 

and    everything    that    a    black    man's    soul    could 
desire  ? 

"Jog  on,  jog  on,  the  footpath  way, 
And  merrily  hent  the  stile-a: 
A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  day, 
Your  sad  tires  in  a  mile-a." 

Jaginde,  originally  like  Kwakwassa  a  slaving 
settlement,  is  now  an  important  market  town, 
situated  as  it  is  at  the  parting  of  the  ways  which 
lead  respectively  to  Bauchi  and  to  Zaria.  I 
camped  in  the  European  rest-house,  overlooking 
the  market-place,  which  had  already  begun  to  fill. 
Hausa  merchants  were  there  selling  native  and 
European  fabrics,  ready-made  clothes  from  a 
simple  riga  to  an  elaborately  embroidered  gown, 
gaudy  wools,  needles  and  thread,  salt  and  sugar, 
native  medicines  and  powdered  galena,  and  wristlets 
and  anklets  of  tin  and  copper  and  bronze.  Hausa 
women  were  there  behind  the  food-stalls  with 
crimson  agates  in  their  noses,  calling  out  the  names 
of  the  delicacies  they  had  for  sale.  Fulani  women 
and  girls  were  there  with  plaited  hair  and  necklets 
of  coloured  beads  and  bracelets  and  earrings  of 
copper,  offering  milk  and  butter  to  the  passers-by. 
Basket-makers  were  there  with  painted  trays  and 
hats,  carved  calabashes  and  woven  mats  :  leather- 
workers  with  belts  and  purses  and  whips  and 
saddlery :  butchers  with  fragments  of  beef 
skewered  on  pointed  sticks,  roasting  in  rings 
round  open  fires  :  barbers  with  a  multitude  of 
strops  and  native  razors  hanging  from  their  waists  : 

potters  with  their  newly-burnt  vessels  of  clay  :  and 

67 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

ragged  woodmen  who  had  spent  the  morning  in 
the  distant  bush  collecting  firewood  for  their  richer 
neighbours. 

Several  troops  of  porters  carrying  tinstone 
arrived  in  the  afternoon,  and  they  and  their  friends 
amongst  my  carriers  feasted  and  made  merry  until 
evening,  many  of  them  becoming  partially  intoxi- 
cated with  palm-wine.  As  evening  fell  the  noisy, 
chattering  crowd  rapidly  dispersed  :  the  sun  went 
down  with  a  lurid  glow  :  the  misty  harmattan 
closed  down  on  the  horizon  :  the  crescent  moon 
appeared  in  the  western  sky,  and  soon  all  was  quiet 
except  for  the  humming  and  singing  of  insects  and 
the  distant  sounds  of  talk  and  laughter.  Christmas 
Day  had  come  and  gone  :  and  as  I  sat  in  my 
chair  before  the  door  of  the  hut,  with  the  insepar- 
able glass  by  my  side,  I  watched  the  old  moon 
in  the  young  moon's  arms  sinking  slowly  in  the 
west,  like  the  old  year  passing  gently  into  the  dark 
backward  and  abysm  of  time.  And  after  dinner 
I  broached  my  case  of  "  medical  comforts  "  and 
drank  a  solitary  toast  to  the  loved  ones  at  home, 
and  to  her  who  was  patiently,  cheerfully,  and  with 
a  gladsome  heart  awaiting  my  return. 

Early  next  morning  we  left  Jaginde  and  took 
the  road  to  Bauchi.  Soon  we  reached  the  base 
of  the  hills  which  we  had  seen  in  the  distance  on 
the  previous  day,  and  which  proved  to  be  the  worn 
and  rounded  front  of  the  escarpment,  running  east 
and  west  behind  Jaginde,  which  separates  the 
northern  tableland  from  the  central  and  southern 

plains    of    Nassarawa.      As    far    as    Darroro    we 

68 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

followed  the  base  of  this  escarpment,  which  was 
continuous  eastward  with  the  precipitous  slopes  of 
the  Kagoro  hills  and  the  steep  cliffs  of  Assab, 
which  marked  the  western  limit  of  the  Bauchi 
plateau. 

Like  most  of  the  other  towns  in  this  neighbour- 
hood, Darroro  was  originally  founded  by  slavers 
from  Zaria,  whose  business  it  was  to  hunt  the  pagan 
cannibals  of  the  hills  and  carry  them  northward  to 
the  great  slave -markets  of  Hausaland.  At  the 
same  time  these  slaving  settlements  acted  as 
frontier  stations  to  the  great  empire  of  the  north 
and  held  in  check  the  pagan  hordes  of  the  plateau. 
The  walls  of  Darroro  had  thus  to  be  necessarily 
strong,  while  supplies  had  to  be  largely  brought 
into  the  town,  as  its  occupants  had  neither  time 
nor  inclination  to  devote  themselves  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  The  bush,  therefore,  around  Darroro  is 
very  sparsely  cleared  ;  and  from  the  rest-house  rise 
the  southern  plains  spread  outward,  compactly 
covered  with  a  thick  veil  of  vegetation  which 
securely  conceals  the  pagan  hamlets  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest . 

It  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that  it  has 

become  possible  for  peaceful  traders  and  travellers 

to  venture  eastward  beyond  the  walls  of  Darroro. 

Until  the  coming  of  the  British  no   Hausa  trader 

had  ever  climbed  the  cliffs  of  Assab   and  peered 

into  the  strongholds  of  the  pagans  of  the  plateau. 

Now    and    then    a    braver    spirit    had    ventured 

up  the  long  ascent  behind  Darroro  and  carried  a 

load  of  salt  to  the  tribesmen  of  Kagoro.     Some- 

69 


On   Horseback  throimh   Nio:eria 

times  he  was  favourably  received  and  royally 
rewarded  for  his  bravery  with  a  couple  of  wiry 
pagan  ironies.  More  often,  however,  his  load  was 
confiscated  and  himself  killed  and  eaten  or  carried 
otT  into  perpetual  slavery.  Little  wonder  then  that 
the  land  beyond  Darroro  was  long  the  home  of 
mystery  and  that  strange  tales  were  spread  abroad 
of  the  weird  peoples  of  the  hills,  where  the  women 
had  tails  and  the  men  were  red  and  clad  only  in  caps 
of  woven  grass  !  The  road  from  Loko  to  Bauchi 
was  then  a  long  and  tedious  one,  involving  as  it 
did  a  wide  detour  to  the  north-west  by  way  of  Katab 
and  Lere  to  avoid  the  country  of  the  dreaded 
pagans.  The  new  and  shorter  route  by  way  of 
Darroro  and  Naraguta  is  now,  however,  thoroughly 
well  established  ;  but  while  the  untutored  pagans  of 
the  plateau  have  at  length  been  induced  to  allow 
peaceful  traders  to  pass  unmolested  across  their 
ancient  land  of  mystery,  there  is  as  yet  but  little 
intercourse  between  these  former  tribal  enemies. 
The  travellers  must  not  leave  the  path  nor  seek  nor 
hope  to  find  hospitality  within  the  pagan  towns. 
Food  is  scarce  upon  the  plateau,  and  those  who 
cross  it  must  carry  with  them  sufticient  stores  to 
serve  until  they  reach  Naraguta.  Darroro  there- 
fore possesses  a  considerable  native  produce 
market,  although  supplies  are  naturally  shorter  and 
dearer  than  at  Jaginde.  Fortunately  the  rest-house 
is  without  the  walls  of  the  town  and  well  distant 
from  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  native  market, 
and  only  mufiled  sounds  of  song  and  life  and 
laughter,   with  the   piercing  cries   of  the  mallams 

70 


The   Baiiclii   Plateau 

to  cvcniiii;"  prayer,  roso  from  the  town  and  reached 
my  (Nirs  through  the  thickening  harmattan. 

Next  morning  the  harmattan  had  lessened  and 
appeared  as  a  thin  blue  haze  in  the  distance.  We 
left  at  dawn,  skirting  the  town  to  the  right,  and 
passed  for  a  short  distance  through  open  grassy 
falU)w  land  before  we  entered  the  thin  forest  which 
we  had  seen  as  a  bank  of  green  from  the  rest-house 
hill.  Alternately  the  path  led  tlnough  stretches  of 
bare  and  blackened  bush  and  through  jxitchcs  of 
green  and  grassy  undergrowth  beneath  leafy  and 
shady  trees.  Parallel  with  us  on  the  left  ran  the 
precipitous  front  of  the  Kagoro  hills,  with  their 
level  treeless  sunimit  outlined  against  the  misty 
morning  sky.  As  the  sun  gained  strength,  it 
threw  streaks  of  gold  across  the  path  and  lit  up 
with  a  golden  glare  the  projecting  knobs  and 
boulders  of  the  grey  granite  precipices,  while  the 
vertical  clefts  and  crevasses  shone  all  the  blacker 
and  darker  from  the  contrast.  But  before  we 
reached  our  camping-ground  on  the  steep  banks 
of  a  rapid  stream,  the  harmattan  had  again 
thickened  and  the  lofty  hills  loomed  faintly  and 
indistinctly  through  the  misty  air. 

By  miHuing  the  atmosphere  had  cleared  again 
and  we  were  early  on  the  march  towards  the  line 
of  lulls,  which  were  again  tinted  with  a  rosy  light 
by  the  rising  sun.  The  path  led  towards  a 
conspicuous  gap  in  the  wall  of  rock  which  stretched 
away  continuously  to  the  right  and  left,  and  in 
two  hours  more  wo  had  reached  the  base  of  the 
ascent.      It  was  with  a  certain  feeling  of  expecta- 

71 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

tion  that  we  began  to  climb  the  rocky  path,  for 
we  were  now  on  the  threshold  of  the  mysterious 
plateau  whose  people  had  remained  unconquered 
and  unknown  until  the  white  man  came  to  break 
the  charm.  A  short  ascent  and  a  steep  and 
rapid  fall  brought  us  to  a  clear  and  sparkling 
mountain  stream,  from  which  the  carriers  gladly 
slaked  their  thirst  and  filled  their  water-bottles 
for  the  main  ascent  beyond.  Up  the  steep 
and  stony  track  we  toiled  in  the  full  glare  of 
the  morning  sun,  now  stopping  to  gaze  downward 
at  the  green  and  shady  plains  below,  and  then 
upward  at  the  bare  and  treeless  summit  which 
marked  the  margin  of  the  upper  plateau.  From 
the  left  came  the  roar  of  a  waterfall  as  a  stream 
danced  and  splashed  over  a  rocky  ledge,  and  we 
paused  again  to  listen  to  the  welcome  sound  and 
to  gaze  at  the  sheet  of  foam  which  rose  and 
sparkled  in  the  glowing  sun. 

Now  and  then  as  we  climbed  we  met  small 
parties  of  the  hill  folk  descending  to  their  lower 
farms.  From  the  constant  passing  of  carriers  and 
traders  through  their  town,  they  have  now  lost 
something  of  their  shyness  and  no  longer  run  from 
the  sight  of  a  white  man  or  of  a  black  from  the 
plains  below.  On  the  contrary,  the  braver  spirits 
now  stand  and  stare  and  smile,  and  even  exchange 
salutations  with  the  passers-by.  Some  of  them  had 
even  picked  up  a  few  words  of  Hausa  and  saluted 
me  with  the  "  Sana  zaki  "  ("  Hail,  great  man  ")  of 
the  north.  Their  native  mode  of  greeting  con- 
sists in  raising  the  clenched  fist  above  the  head 

72 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

and  uttering  an  emphatic  "  Sho-sho!  "  "  Sho-sho!  " 
and  from  this  characteristic  exclamation  these 
denizens  of  the  hills  have  been  dubbed  by  the 
Hausa  carriers  the  "  mutane  sho-sho  "  or  the 
Sho-sho  people.  Their  tribal  name,  however,  is 
Kibyen  or  Kibun,  a  comprehensive  term  which 
covers  all  the  dwellers  on  the  summit  of  the  plateau 
and  probably  includes  many  divergent  races  from 
one  original   stock. 

The  Kibyen  town  of  Assab  is  set  on  the  rugged 
brow  of  the  cliffs  which  we  had  just  ascended, 
overlooking  the  wooded  plains  fifteen  hundred  feet 
below.  As  soon  as  we  entered  it  we  were  struck 
by  the  differences  between  these  plateau  towns  and 
those  of  the  lower  plains  through  which  we  had 
passed.  The  characteristic  wall  and  ditch  of  the 
cities  of  the  plain  were  here  conspicuously  absent, 
and  so  also  were  the  party  walls  of  zana  matting 
which  separate  the  compounds  in  a  Hausa  town. 
The  Kibyen  compounds  are  large  and  rectangular 
and  separated  by  thick  and  lofty  hedges  of  green 
and  prickly  cactus,  and  at  the  upper  end  stands  a 
cluster  of  tiny  huts  and  granaries.  The  paths  within 
the  towns  are  bounded  on  either  side  by  a  row 
of  these  rectangular  compounds,  the  lower  hedges 
forming  a  continuous  barrier  along  the  whole  length 
of  the  street.  Passers-by  are  thus  completely  shut 
out  of  the  compounds  by  these  impenetrable  hedges, 
while  enemies,  when  once  they  enter  the  narrow 
path,  are  helplessly  and  hopelessly  at  the  mercy  of 
the  owners  of  the  compounds  in  the  open  squares 
behind.     The  greater  part  of  the  space  within  the 

73 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

compound  is  in  the  season  devoted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  millet,  which  when  fully  grown  entirely 
obscures  the  cluster  of  huts  at  the  upper  end, 
while  after  harvest  the  goats  and  fowls  and  small 
hill  ponies  of  the  tribesmen  are  securely  penned 
within  the  cactus  hedges. 

The  Kibyen  men  are  comparatively  short  and 
sturdily  built  and,  like  the  other  native  races  of 
Nigeria,  not  markedly  negroid  in  appearance.  They 
usually  appear  with  their  bodies  smeared  from  head 
to  foot  with  red  ochre,  but  otherwise  clad  only 
in  "  native  nothingness."  <When  attired  for  travel, 
they  carry  a  small  leathern  bag  of  meal  and  their 
weapons,  which  consist  of  clubs  and  light  casting 
spears  of  bamboo  tipped  with  iron.  The  women 
are  little  in  evidence  and  remain  for  the  most  part 
in  the  seclusion  of  the  compounds.  Their  dress  is 
simple  and  easily  procured,  for  it  consists  solely  of 
a  bunch  of  leaves  suspended  from  their  waists 
behind  and  occasionally  also  in  front.  The  matrons 
are  .distinguished  by  a  bobbin-like  appendage 
worn  behind,  consisting  of  a  wooden  frame  wound 
round  with  iron  wire,  a  peculiar  custom  from  which 
has  been  derived  the  legend  of  the  tailed  women 
of  the  hills. 

We  halted  at  the  upper  end  of  the  town  to  rest 
after  the  long  and  tedious  climb.  The  carriers 
amused  themselves  by  jeering  at  the  women  and 
shouting  salutations  to  the  men  who  peered  at  them 
through  the  cactus  hedges.  "  Aboki,  sho-sho!  " 
"  Sho-sho,  aboki/ ''  ("  Hail,  friend  !  ")  they  would 
call ;  and  if  they  had  in  reply  a  smile  and  answering 

74 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

"  Sho-sho,'"  they  followed  up  their  greeting  at  once 
by  a  call  for  "  atcha,''  the  Kibyen  word  for  millet, 
a  request,  however,  which  was  entirely  ignored. 
As  we  passed  through  the  town  the  high  cactus 
hedges  had  quite  obscured  our  view,  but  now  as 
we  sat  on  the  upper  margin  of  the  cliffs  we  were 
struck  by  the  treeless  aspect  of  the  landscape.  Far 
below  us  there  spread  out  the  thickly  wooded  plains 
of  Nassarawa,  but  from  the  surface  of  the  plateau 
which  stretched  away  northward  and  eastward  from 
our  feet  there  rose  not  a  single  lofty  tree.  Only  a 
few  wind-worn,  stunted  stems  were  scattered  at 
long  intervals  over  the  plain,  while  the  surface  of 
the  plateau  as  far  as  we  could  see  was  either 
cultivated  or  covered  with  short  rank  grass  of  a 
season's  growth,  now  dry  and  brown  and  in  places 
blackened  with  fire.  Only  in  the  town  did  the 
cactus  hedges  and  occasional  trees  within  the  com- 
pounds cast  a  pleasing  shade  and  offer  a  touch 
of  vivid  green  on  which  to  rest  the  eye. 

Two  roads  lead  across  the  plateau  from  Assab 
to  Bukuru,  the  Government  headquarters  in  the 
Kibyen  country.  One  passes  by  way  of  Hoss  and 
Vom  and  the  other  through  Rim  and  Woran,  and  the 
latter,  though  somewhat  longer,  is  the  more  interest- 
ing of  the  two.  The  path  led  over  the  open  treeless 
plain  in  the  full  glare  of  the  midday  sun,  and  yet 
the  heat  seemed  not  excessive,  for  we  had  now 
reached  a  height  of  over  3,500  feet  above  sea- 
level,  and  had  climbed  above  the  hot  and  steamy 
atmosphere  of  the  lower  plains.  Soon  we  reached 
the  Kogin  Rim,  a  rapid,  rushing  stream,  which  had 

75 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

cut  a  deep  trench  for  itself  in  the  level  surface 
of  the  plateau.  We  crossed  it  with  some  little 
difficulty,  for  its  bed  was  strewn  with  huge  boulders 
of  the  ancient  lava  which  elsewhere  covered  the 
surface  of  the  plain.  We  hastened  on  towards  a 
small  conical  hill,  the  stump  of  an  ancient  volcano, 
which  lay  close  to  Rim,  where  we  proposed  to 
halt  for  the  night ;  and  as  soon  as  we  reached  it, 
we  saw  before  us  the  green  cactus  hedges  and 
rectangular  compounds  of  the  natives,  set  round 
a  cluster  of  rocky  knolls. 

We  camped  to  the  east  of  the  town  beside  a 
clear  stream  of  running  water  which  flowed  close 
to  the  outermost  cactus  hedge.  Many  eyes  peered 
curiously  at  us  over  the  granite  boulders  and 
between  the  thick  stems  of  prickly  cactus.  By 
and  by  the  natives  in  their  primitive  costume  began 
to  gain  courage  and  to  sidle  shyly  up  to  the  tent 
and  gaze  in  wonder  at  the  white  man  within.  My 
cook  had  fortunately  taken  the  precaution  to  bring 
on  some  firewood  from  our  last  camping -ground, 
otherwise  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible 
to  make  a  fire  in  this  treeless  land  without  invading 
the  town,  where  the  only  available  timber  was  to 
be  found.  As  the  natives,  however,  showed  a  dis- 
position towards  friendliness,  he  began  to  hold  up 
pieces  of  wood  and  make  signs  to  them  to  bring 
more  out  of  the  compounds,  at  the  same  time 
showing  them  a  handful  of  salt  in  token  of  a  coming 
reward.  At  the  sight  of  the  salt,  which  to  these 
plateau-dwellers  is  the  greatest  delicacy  on  earth, 
they  clucked  and  chuckled  excitedly  to  each  other, 

76 


The   Bauchi  Plateau 

and  then  ran  off  to  their  huts  and  presently  returned 
with  an  abundance  of  firewood,  eager  to  claim  the 
promised  reward,  which  they  received  with  a  deep- 
throated  "  ya-a,  ya-a  "  of  satisfaction.  Their  eyes 
burned  with  ardent  longing  as  they  watched  my 
boys  laying  the  table  for  my  meals,  and  when  I 
sat  down  to  eat  and  drink,  they  gazed  at  me  in 
open-mouthed  amazement,  holding  out  their  hands 
appealingly,  clucking  and  chattering  and  muttering 
"  Gwom,  gwom,"  which  I  was  informed  was  their 
term  for  a  person  of  supreme  importance. 

Next  to  a  handful  of  salt,  these  primitive  people 
value  most  highly  empty  tin  cans,  which  they 
fashion  into  rings  and  armlets  for  the  decoration 
of  their  bodies.  Thus  here,  as  with  all  other  primi- 
tive races,  the  love  of  ornament  comes  next  to  the 
desire  for  food.  For  the  same  reason  also,  the 
younger  men  and  women  had  their  bodies  smeared 
over  with  red  ochre,  which  to  a  European  eye  gives 
them  a  weird  and  uncanny  appearance.  Besides 
the  ornaments  of  tin,  most  of  the  men  wear  wristlets 
and  anklets  of  iron  in  the  form  of  broad  or  narrow 
bands,  the  anklets  having  as  a  rule  fork-like  pro- 
jections which  serve  as  spurs  when  riding  and  are 
turned  towards  the  front  of  the  foot  when  walking. 
Horsemen  also  wear  below  the  knee  a  number  of 
twisted  grass  rings  which  serve  to  steady  the  naked 
rider  on  his  bare-backed  pony.  The  hill  ponies  are 
small  and  wiry  and  accustomed  to  the  stony  roads 
of  the  plateau,  and  it  is  a  common  practice  of  their 
owners  to  make  an  incision  on  either  side  of  the 
backbone,  turn  the  skin  inward,  and  intentionally 

77 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

cause  a  swollen  sore  in  order  to  provide  a  softer 
seat  for  the  rider.  Such  cruelty,  however,  like 
the  cannibalism  practised  before  the  domination  of 
the  British,  is  now  largely  discouraged,  as  the 
natives  have  not  been  long  in  recognising  that  an 
unscarred  pony  will  fetch  a  better  price  from  the 
passing  traders  than  one  that  has  been  mutilated 
in  the  customary  manner. 

Towards  evening  the  wind  rose,  and  while  it 
cleared  the  air  of  harmattan  and  insect  life,  it  blew 
quite  chill  and  cold.  I  retired  early  to  the  shelter 
of  my  tent,  while  the  carriers  sought  refuge  from 
the  biting  blast  within  some  deserted  huts  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  town.  In  the  morning  the  wind 
had  fallen,  but  the  grey  dawn  felt  wintry  still,  and 
my  face  and  hands  tingled  with  the  cold  as  I  washed 
in  fresh  water  from  the  running  stream.  The 
carriers  came  early,  shivering  and  depressed,  and 
anxious  to  move  on  to  a  warmer  place,  for  the 
black  man  cannot  bear  the  cold.  They  cowered 
over  tiny  fires  of  grass  and  leaves  until  I  was 
ready  to  start,  while  the  few  natives  who  came  out 
of  courtesy  to  see  me  off  sat  huddled  together  in  a 
group,  their  teeth  chattering  and  their  muscles 
twitching  involuntarily  in  the  chilly  morning  air. 
In  the  cold  season  these  plateau-dwellers  do  not 
leave  their  tiny  huts  until  the  sun  has  been  up 
for  some  time  and  warmed  the  air,  but  in  spite 
of  such  precautions  they  suffer  much  from  colds 
and  chills,  and  consumption  and  bronchial  troubles 
carry  them  off  soon  after  they  reach  their  prime. 

The   morning   was   dull   and   grey,   but   on   the 

7«^ 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

eastern  horizon,  across  the  open  grassy  treeless 
plain,  the  sun  was  shining  behind  a  bank  of  clouds 
upon  the  peaks  and  pinnacles  of  a  jagged  range 
of  granite  hills,  lighting  up  their  summits  fantas- 
tically with  a  rosy  light  while  their  base  was 
steeped  in  gloom.  Slowly  the  clouds  dispersed 
until  the  hills  were  wholly  wrapt  in  a  golden  glow. 
Then  little  by  little  the  sunbeams  danced  across 
the  grassy  plain,  until,  as  they  reached  our  path, 
they  were  hailed  by  the  carriers  with  cries  of  joy, 
for  the  black  man's  day  had  at  last  begun.  And 
the  dew-drops  sparkled  on  the  short  green  grass 
by  the  wayside,  while  the  air  felt  light  and  buoyant 
like  a  summer's  morn  at  home. 

In  an  hour  we  had  entered  a  tract  of  country 
where  the  scenery  was  of  both  a  striking  and  an 
unexpected  character.  From  the  smooth  and 
gently  rolling  surface  of  the  plateau,  the  path  led 
amongst  a  series  of  detached  domelets,  conelets, 
hummocks,  and  low  flat-topped  grassy  hillocks 
rising  steeply  and  abruptly  from  the  plain.  A 
narrow  bridle-path  led  up  the  side  of  many  of  the 
higher  hillocks,  and  every  now  and  then  a  naked 
native  on  his  active  pony  would  scramble  up  the 
slope  to  the  flattened  summit,  only,  at  sight  of  us, 
to  scramble  down  again  quicker  than  before,  and 
gallop  off  with  the  news  to  his  comrades  amongst 
the  hills.  And  soon,  on  the  summits  of  all  the 
distant  hillocks  which  commanded  a  view  of  our 
path,  solitary  mounted  sentinels  could  be  seen 
reconnoitring  our  progress,  ready  to  report  any 
deviation  from  the  beaten  track  and  any  possible 

79 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

intention  of  the  white  man  to  invade  the  privacy 
of  their  native  domains. 

The  path,  however,  turned  northward  and  left 
unentered  this  country  of  mysterious  hills.  Soon 
we  reached  Woran,  a  small  village  on  the  verge  of 
a  deep-cut  gorge,  whose  inhabitants  fled  in  terror 
at  our  approach.  Beyond  us  again  there  stretched 
the  open  grassy  treeless  plain,  whose  surface  was 
now,  however,  diversified  by  occasional  kopjes  and 
short  rocky  ridges  of  granite.  Several  native 
towns  could  now  be  distinguished  in  the  distance, 
each  conspicuous  as  a  broad  patch  of  green  on 
the  yellow  landscape,  with  its  cactus  hedges 
radiating  outwards  from  the  group  of  rocky  knolls 
amongst  which  the  huts  were  set.  We  passed 
through  the  middle  of  Kru,  a  large  town  built  on 
two  parallel  ridges  of  granite  with  a  running  stream 
between,  and  as  soon  as  we  had  left  behind  us 
the  outermost  cactus  hedges  of  the  town  we  saw 
in  the  distance  on  a  rounded  rise  the  Residency  hut 
of  Bukuru,  with  the  barracks  and  parade-ground  of 
the  native  soldiery. 

The  Government  station  of  Bukuru  lies  between 
the  two  large  and  important  native  towns  of 
Bukuru  and  Ngell,  which  lie  about  a  mile  apart  on 
the  summit  of  the  plateau  and  about  4,000  feet 
above  sea-level.  Each  is  built  round  a  number 
of  rocky  kopjes,  and  the  polygonal  compounds  are 
fenced  and  guarded  in  the  usual  way  by  hedges 
of  prickly  cactus.  All  around  are  jagged  knobs 
and  projections  of  granitic  rock,  and  when  the  land- 
scape is  viewed  from  the  summit  of  a  kopje,  the 

80 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

general  impression  is  that  of  an  open  treeless 
plain  with  an  irregular  hummocky  floor,  and  with 
occasional  broken  ridges  of  granite  rising  above 
the  general  level.  We  halted  for  the  night  at 
Bukuru,  where  there  is  now  a  rest-house  and  huts 
for  passing  carriers,  as  well  as  a  small  garrison 
market  to  which  the  local  natives  now  bring  their 
surplus  produce.  Early  next  morning  we  set  out 
for  Naraguta,  skirting  the  outer  compounds  of 
Ngell  on  the  left  and  passing  over  an  open 
cultivated  plain  until  we  reached  the  margin  of 
the  upper  plateau,  where  a  short  but  steep  descent 
of  fifty  feet  was  accompanied  by  a  sudden  and 
remarkable  change  in  the  character  of  the  country. 
The  low  cliff  ran  off  continuously  to  the  right  and 
left,  while  above  it  was  the  level  treeless  plain,  and 
below  broken  undulating  thinly  wooded  country, 
with  a  few  detached  flat -topped  hillocks  fringing 
the  cliff"  and  rising  to  the  level  of  the  upper  plains. 
Soon  we  entered  the  wooded  valley  of  the  Kogin 
Delimi,  and  near  Jos,  the  last  of  the  pagan  towns, 
we  touched  the  main  stream  itself  and  followed  it 
as  far  as  Naraguta,  a  cosmopolitan  mining  settle- 
ment which  has  grown  up  on  the  banks  of  the 
Delimi  within  the  last  three  years,  the  name  being 
that  of  a  neighbouring  pagan  town  amongst  the 
hills  to  the   south. 

We  spent  the  night  at  Naraguta,  where  in  the 
well-stocked  market  the  carriers  were  able  to  pro- 
cure those  native  delicacies  which  they  had  had 
to   forgo   since  leaving   Jaginde.      Just   below   the 

mining  camp  occur  the  falls  of  the  Delimi,  at  the 

8i  F 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

upper  end  of  a  narrow  picturesque  and  densely 
wooded  gorge  which  the  river  has  cut  in  the 
margin  of  the  plateau.  A  wide  road,  moreover, 
has  been  cleared  along  the  native  track  from 
Naraguta  to  Bauchi,  and  about  half  a  mile  beyond 
the  mining  township  it  leads  over  a  steep  and 
rocky  descent  of  a  hundred  feet,  which  represents 
one  step  in  the  irregularly  broken  and  faulted 
margin  of  the  plateau.  The  road  follows  the  base 
of  the  escarpment  as  far  as  Tilde,  a  Fulani  village, 
whence  it  runs  eastward  to  Toro,  an  ancient  Hausa 
town  set  amongst  rocky  hillocks  of  basaltic  lava. 
Beyond  Toro,  and  just  at  the  point  where  the  road 
from  Zaria  joins  the  road  from  Naraguta,  another 
steep  descent  of  five  hundred  feet,  representing  the 
second  step  on  the  broken  margin  of  the  plateau, 
leads  down  over  a  bare  and  smooth  surface  of 
granite  from  the  higher  plains  of  Toro  to  the  lower 
plains   of  Polchi. 

Thus  between  Darroro  and  Polchi  we  had 
crossed  the  summit  of  the  Bauchi  plateau,  un- 
challenged and  unmolested  by  those  dreaded 
pagans  who,  secure  in  their  rocky  fastnesses,  had 
retained  their  independence  from  time  immemorial, 
who  had  dared  the  conquering  armies  of  Hausa 
and  Fulani  braves  to  ascend  the  steep  cliffs  that 
guarded  their  secret  homes,  but  who  had  submitted 
with  little  trouble,  though  not  without  some  show  of 
resistance,  to  the  white  man  and  his  guns.  The 
history  of  the  opening  up  of  the  plateau  and  its 
mysterious  tribes  is  intimately  connected  with  the 

history  of  the  development  of  the  tinfieids,  tinstone 

82 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

being  found  in  the  surface  alluvium  all  over  the 
summit  and  northern  margin  of  the  plateau,  from 
Bukuru  and  Ngell  northward  to  Tilde,  Toro,  and 
Polchi.  The  presence  of  tinstone  in  this  neigh- 
bourhood has  been  known  to  the  natives  from  very 
early  times,  and  long  before  the  coming  of  the 
British  the  people  of  Liruei  were  accustomed  to 
wash  the  sands  of  the  Kogin  Delimi,  smelt  the 
tinstone  in  their  native  furnaces  and  mould  the 
white  metal  into  slender  wires  for  purposes  of  trade 
and  barter  :  and  the  first  hint  of  the  occurrence 
of  tinstone  in  the  interior  was  given  when  the 
native  merchants  began  to  bring  down  from  the 
north  these  wires  of  tin  to  the  Niger  Company's 
trading  store  at  Lau  on  the  Benue.  The  secret 
of  the  exact  locality  of  its  occurrence,  however,  was 
well  and  securely  kept,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
Niger  Company  fitted  out  an  expedition  in  the  year 
1902  to  search  for  tinstone  to  the  east  of  Zaria 
that  it  was  at  last  located  in  the  sands  of  the 
Kogin  Delimi  around  and  to  the  south  of  Badiko. 
The  next  step  taken  by  the  Company  was  to  secure 
an  exclusive  prospecting  licence  over  a  considerable 
area  in  this  neighbourhood  and  to  send  out  a  party 
of  prospectors  and  engineers  to  make  a  detailed 
examination  of  the  whole  area,  with  the  object  of 
ascertaining  the  exact  position  of  the  richest  and 
most  workable  deposits.  The  first  mining  camp 
was  established  on  the  banks  of  the  Delimi  near 
the  Fulani  town  of  Tilde,  and  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  picturesque  gorge  which  the  river  has  cut 
in  the  margin  of  the  plateau.     Explorations  were 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

gradually  pushed  southward  and  upward  on  to  the 
plateau  itself,  and  the  most  valuable  deposits  were 
in  time  located  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  present 
township  of  Naraguta.  In  1904  a  clearing  was 
made  in  the  bush  and  a  few  huts  erected,  and 
from  this  small  beginning  has  sprung  the  extensive 
settlement  of  to-day,  whose  name  and  fame  are 
known  throughout  the  whole  Protectorate. 

Naturally  enough,  the  pagan  tribes  of  the  plateau 
whose  country  was  thus  invaded,  offered  consider- 
able hostility  to  the  advance  of  the  working  parties. 
Moreover,  it  was  necessary,  in  transporting  the  ore 
to  Loko  on  the  Benue,  for  shipment  to  England, 
to  send  the  carriers  by  a  long  and  circuitous  route 
by  way  of  Badiko,  Lere  and  Katab  in  order  to 
avoid  any  contact  with  the  pagans  of  the  plateau. 
This  involved,  however,  the  unnecessary  expendi- 
ture of  much  time  and  money,  and  representations 
were  accordingly  made  by  the  Company  to  the 
Government  of  the  Protectorate,  urging  the  advisa- 
bility of  opening  up  a  new  and  shorter  route  over 
the  plateau  from  Naraguta  to  Loko.  Ultimately 
two  expeditions  were  fitted  out  against  the  hitherto 
unconquered  pagans,  one  ascending  the  plateau 
from  its  southern  margin  behind  Darroro  and  the 
other  working  southward  from  Naraguta.  Con- 
siderable armed  resistance  was  offered  by  the  two 
frontier  towns  of  Assab  and  Ngell,  but  after  their 
subjection  the  remaining  towns  along  the  proposed 
route  voluntarily  submitted.  After  the  road  had 
been  thus  opened,  a  Government  station  with  a 
small  garrison  was  established  at  Bukuru,  and  for 

«4 


The   Bauchi  Plateau 

a  time  the  caravans  of  tinstone  were  accompanied 
by  an  armed  escort  across  the  plateau.  Even  this 
precaution,  however,  has  now  been  abandoned,  and 
traders  may  now  pass  across  the  plateau  singly 
or  in  groups  from  Naraguta  to  Darroro  without 
the  least  fear  of  molestation  by  the  pagans. 

My  first  acquaintance  with  the  plateau  was  made 
in  the  early  months  of  1905,  before  the  military 
expeditions  had  passed  across  its  summit.  At  that 
time  it  was  impossible  to  ascend  the  plateau  from 
the  south,  and  I  had  therefore  to  approach  it  from 
the  north  by  way  of  the  mining  camps  on  its 
northern  margin.  The  principal  camp  of  the  Niger 
Company's  engineers  was  then  fixed  on  the  now 
deserted  site  near  Tilde,  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
gorge  of  the  Delimi,  while  subordinate  camps  were 
in  process  of  being  established  at  Naraguta  and 
Jos.  Rapid  prospecting  journeys  had  been  made 
over  the  country  to  the  south  of  Jos  and  on  the 
margin  of  the  upper  plateau,  but  the  attitude  of 
the  natives  was  still  extremely  hostile  to  any  in- 
trusion by  the  white  man.  As  we  moved  south- 
ward from  Jos  towards  the  low  escarpment  which 
bounds  the  upper  plateau,  we  could  see  the  naked 
horsemen  standing  sentinel  on  the  summits  of  the 
flat -topped  hills  which  fringe  the  lofty  treeless  plains 
beyond.  At  sight  of  us  they  turned  at  once  and 
galloped  off  to  spread  the  news  that  strangers  were 
approaching,  and  as  we  marched  slowly  southward 
over  the  open  plains  we  could  see  on  the  skyline 
a  long  row  of  armed  horsemen  moving  slowly 
forward  as  we  advanced.     When  we  reached  Ngell 

85 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

we  found  the  town  apparently  deserted,  but  on  either 
hand  we  caught  glimpses  of  horsemen  galloping  up 
to  the  outer  compounds  and  of  armed  men  in  full 
war-paint  slinking  stealthily  forward  to  line  the 
hedges  where  we  passed.  With  an  assumed  care- 
lessness we  moved  slowly  along  the  narrow  path 
between  the  high  lines  of  cactus  until  we  reached 
an  open  space  in  the  middle  of  the  town,  where  we 
halted  to  rest  and  wait  for  the  approach  of  the 
natives.  After  much  suspicious  peering  between  the 
cactus  stems,  some  of  the  braver  spirits,  apparently 
convinced  that  we  were  peaceful  travellers,  ventured 
out  into  the  open  and  were  soon  accepting  gifts 
of  salt  and  tobacco  from  the  carriers.  Unfortun- 
ately, however,  we  could  not  communicate  with 
them  by  word  of  mouth,  for  we  found  that  the 
guide  whom  we  had  brought  with  us  from  Jos 
was  useless  as  an  interpreter,  each  town  on  the 
plateau  speaking  apparently  a  different  dialect  and 
having  little  or  no  intercourse  with  its  neighbours. 
By  and  by  an  old  Hausa  slave-woman,  a  captive 
of  former  days,  came  forward  and  knelt  at  my  feet, 
pleased  to  hear  again  the  sounds  of  her  native 
tongue,  and  through  her  our  requests  were  at  last 
communicated  to  the  people  of  Ngell.  We  asked 
to  be  directed  to  a  suitable  spot  near  a  stream  of 
running  water  where  we  could  camp  for  the  night, 
and  to  be  supplied,  if  possible,  with  some  food  from 
the  town.  After  a  long  and  excited  consultation 
amongst  themselves,  during  which  we  could 
plainly  see  that  there  was  a  party  for  and  a  party 

against  us,  it  was  at  length  decided  that  we  should 

86 


The  Bauchi  Plateau 

be  received  in  a  friendly  manner,  and  a  small  party 
were  detailed  to  lead  us  to  a  suitable  camping- 
ground  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  and  catch  for 
our  sustenance  a  few  of  the  goats  which  were 
feeding  around.  Needless  to  say,  we  were  in  some 
little  doubt  as  to  whether  the  hostile  party  might 
not  gain  the  upper  hand  in  the  course  of  the 
evening,  and  our  horses  were  kept  standing  by 
ready  saddled  all  night,  so  that  in  the  event  of 
attack  we  might  not  be  entirely  cut  off  from  all 
hope  of  escape.  Happily,  however,  the  night 
passed  quietly,  and  in  the  morning  we  decided  to 
penetrate  no  further  into  the  unknown,  but  to 
retrace  our  steps  to  Naraguta  and  Tilde. 

Now,  however,  the  scene  is  changed,  and  it  is 
no  longer  possible  to  have  such  an  experience 
unless  one  wanders  far  to  the  south  off  the  beaten 
track.  British  arms  and  British  prestige  have 
accomplished  a  remarkable  and  speedy  change 
upon  the  plateau  within  the  last  few  years.  The 
internecine  wars  which  raged  between  the  neigh- 
bouring towns  have  stopped  :  the  naked  denizens 
of  the  plateau  are  learning  both  the  value  and 
the  use  of  clothes  :  and  the  narrow  lonely  paths 
which  led  across  the  open  grassy  plains  are  now 
the  scene  of  constant  life  and  action  as  caravans 
of  traders  come  and  go  and  pass  in  safety  to  the 
plains  below.  The  rapid  development  of  this 
portion  of  the  plateau  is  due,  as  already  indicated, 
to  the  discovery  of  extensive  tin  deposits  on  its 
northern  margin  and  to  the  necessity  of  finding 
the  shortest  and  quickest  route  from  the  tinfields 

87 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

to  the  river.  The  tinfields  lie  for  the  most  part 
to  the  north  of  Bukuru  and  Ngell,  and  many 
syndicates  are  now  exploring  and  prospecting 
around  Tilde,  Toro,  and  Polchi.  The  tin  is 
abundant  and  of  excellent  quality,  and  the  transport 
difficulty  is  the  only  thing  which  stands  in  the  way 
of  this  part  of  the  Protectorate  becoming  an  import- 
ant mining  centre.  All  the  ore  which  is  washed 
from  the  streams  or  mined  from  the  lodes  has  at 
present  to  be  carried  by  porters  in  6o-lb.  sacks  for 
ten  or  twelve  days  before  it  reaches  the  river,  and 
the  organisation  and  working  of  such  a  system  of 
transport  is  naturally  found  to  be  an  item  of  very 
considerable  importance  on  the  debit  side  of  the 
balance-sheet.  It  is  hoped,  however,  to  obviate 
this  difficulty  of  transport  in  the  near  future  by 
running  a  branch  line  from  the  new  Baro-Kano 
Railway,  where  it  crosses  the  Kaduna,  through 
eastern  Zaria  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  tinfields. 
The  present  system  of  transport,  however,  is 
picturesque  and  occasionally  humorous.  Many  of 
the  pagans  of  the  plateau  have  been  persuaded 
to  act  as  carriers  between  Naraguta  and  Darroro, 
and  it  is  a  not  uncommon  sight,  when  a  new 
company  arrives  fresh  to  the  work,  to  see  those 
who  have  brought  their  ponies  mounting  first  and 
then  placing  the  6o-lb.  bag  of  tinstone  on  their 
heads,  in  the  belief  that  they  are  thereby  saving 
their  ponies  at  the  expense  of  themselves  i 


88 


CHAPTER      IV 

BAUCHI   TO   IBI 

*■'■  Hills  and  valleys,  plains  and  fields, 
And  lofty  craggy  mountains P 

Scenery  around  Bauchi — The  origin  of  monkeys — Pagans  and 
Fulani — On  the  way  to  Kereng — The  grassy  plains  of  Panyam 
— The  sarikin  Kereng  makes  obeisance — Chmbing  the  Kereng 
cone — Truculent  natives — The  Angass  people — The  Wase  Rock 
— The  Gurkawa  pagans — Character  of  the  country — Ibi  and 
the  Benue — Ferrying  horses  across  the  river — Leaving  for 
Arofu — An  unfortunate  occurrence — Kokandaand  Nupe  canoes 
— Camping  on  a  sandbank — The  lead  mines  of  Arofu — Pre- 
cautions against  alarm — Salt-making  at  Awe — A  characteristic 
letter — The  Ankwe  River — -A  waterless  march. 

The  rest-camp  at  Polchi  is  quite  an  ideal  spot. 
The  round  thatched  huts  are  set  beneath  a  number 
of  large  and  shady  trees,  while  each  is  fitted  in 
addition  with  a  fair-weather  runfa,  or  rectangular 
extension,  of  zana  matting,  which  forms  a  cool 
and  pleasant  sitting-room  during  the  heat  of  the 
day.  The  harmattan  thickened  in  the  afternoon, 
and  we  could  barely  distinguish  the  outlines  of  the 
distant  hills  which  formed  the  margin  of  the 
plateau,  while  at  night  the  moon  shone  through  the 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

misty  haze  like  a  pale  white  disc  and  the  stars  were 
quite  invisible  in  the  gloom.  The  morning  broke 
chill  and  cold,  though  the  harmattan  had  thinned 
to  a  faint  blue  smoke.  We  set  out  early  on  our 
march  to  Kathenawa,  the  carriers  moving  quickly 
in  the  cool  morning  air,  calling  and  shouting  to 
each  other  and  blowing  lustily  at  intervals  on  their 
ram's-horn  flutes.  We  crossed  several  large  tribu- 
taries of  the  Polchi  River,  all  of  them  nearly  dry, 
and  followed  the  telegraph  line  eastward  along  the 
broad  clearing  in  the  thin  and  blackened  bush 
until  Zul  and  Kathenawa  came  in  sight.  The  two 
towns  are  set  on  parallel  ridges  of  gneiss,  Zul  being 
a  pagan  and  Kathenawa  a  Fulani  settlement ;  and 
representatives  of  both  towns  came  to  see  me — the 
naked  pagan  and  the  well-clad  Mohammedan,  the 
former  tolerated  by  the  latter  only  in  the  white 
man's  presence. 

We  left  at  dawn  for  Bauchi.  The  harmattan 
was  thick,  and  Zaranda  Hill,  a  local  landmark,  was 
almost  invisible  in  the  haze.  We  passed  the  ruins 
of  several  large  pagan  towns  which  had  originally 
offered  a  determined  resistance  to  the  coming  of 
the  British  and  had  been  punished  accordingly. 
The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  had  fled  elsewhere 
and  never  returned,  and  only  a  few  scattered  huts 
had  been  rebuilt  amongst  the  farms.  Soon,  how- 
ever, we  entered  the  open  plains  around  Bauchi, 
and  in  the  absence  of  bush  the  characteristic 
scenery  at  once  impressed  itself  upon  our  minds. 
From  the  open  cultivated  fields,  decorated  only 
with  scattered  trees,  there  sprang  up  at  intervals 

90 


Bauchi  to   Ibi 

numerous  lofty  domes  and  turtlebacks  of  granite, 
with  their  bare  and  smooth  and  rounded  surfaces 
falling  steeply  to  the  plains  around.  Some  of  them 
were  scaling  off  in  concentric  layers  like  the  coats 
of  an  onion  ;  others  were  covered  in  part  with 
broken  blocks  and  boulders,  while  on  the  crest- 
line  of  others  large  rounded  fragments  were 
perched  in  apparently  most  precarious  positions. 
The  plains,  now  ripe  for  harvest,  were  cultivated 
right  up  to  the  bases  of  the  solitary  hills,  on  which 
troops  of  monkeys  were  gambolling  and  pla>dng, 
or  sheltering  from  the  brilliant  sun  in  the  shadow 
of  the  boulders. 

Here  is  the  story  of  the  origin  of  monkeys  as 
the  mallams  tell  it  in  the  market-place.  Long 
ago — five  thousand  years  ago— there  was  a  country, 
far,  far  away,  where  many  different  kinds  of  men 
dwelt  side  by  side — white  men,  black  men,  red 
men,  yellow  men.  A  large  river  flowed  through 
this  country,  and  it  was  teeming  with  fish.  The 
people  lived  entirely  on  fish,  and  every  morning 
the  men,  black,  white,  red,  and  yellow,  trooped 
down  to  the  river  banks  and  caught  the  day's 
supply.  The  fish,  however,  petitioned  Allah  that 
they  might  have  one  day's  respite  from  persecution 
every  week,  so  that  they  might  dance  about  upon 
the  surface  of  the  water  in  no  danger  of  being 
caught  and  eaten.  Allah  granted  the  request,  and 
ordered  the  men  to  refrain  from  catching  fish  one 
day  every  week.  All  went  well  for  a  time.  The 
fish  hid  themselves  in  the  depths  of  the  river  for 
six  days  in  the  week,  but  on  the  seventh  day  they 

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On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

came  up  and  danced  in  thousands  on  the  surface. 
At  length,  however,  the  sight  of  so  many  fish  on 
the  isurface  tempted  a  number  of  the  men,  and  a 
company  of  them,  black,  white,  red,  and  yellow, 
proceeded  one  forbidden  day  to  disobey  Allah  and 
draw  the  fish  from  the  river.  Allah  was  very 
angry,  and  to  punish  the  men  changed  them  and 
their  wives  and  children  into  monkeys.  And  so 
to  this  day  there  are  found  in  the  woods  different 
kinds  of  monkeys  living  side  by  side— black 
monkeys,  white  monkeys,  red  monkeys,  yellow 
monkeys.  And  such  is  the  story  as  it  is  written 
in  Al  Koran,  the  book  of  Allah. 

The  European  quarters  at  Bauchi  are  admirably 
situated  on  rising  ground  some  little  distance 
to  the  west  of  the  native  town,  and  pleasantly 
sheltered  by  large  and  shady  trees.  A  number  of 
bungalows  have  now  been  erected  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  officials,  and  the  court-house  is 
a  massive,  flat-roofed,  oriental -looking  building  of 
native  construction  and  dignified  appearance.  The 
walls  of  Bauchi  are  several  miles  in  circumference, 
and  enclose,  as  is  the  custom,  a  considerable 
amount  of  farmland  as  well  as»  the  township  itself, 
which  is  built  round  a  number  of  low  hillocks 
within  the  walls.  The  word  "  bauchi  "  means 
"  slavery,"  and  indicates  in  itself  the  origin  of  the 
town,  which  was  founded  as  a  slaving  centre  in 
the  middle  of  the  pagan  country  by  a  Hausa  colony 
from  Kano  and  Zaria.  After  the  conquest  of 
Hausaland    and    its    dependencies    by    the    Fulani, 

their  victorious  arms  were  pushed  southward  and 

92 


Bauchi  to   Ibi 

westward  up  the  Gongola  Valley  as  far  as  Lere, 
and  settlements  were  established  over  the  fertile 
plains.  The  pagans  thus  displaced  retired  to  the 
rough  and  hilly  portions  of  the  province,  where  in 
their  rocky  fastnesses  they  were  more  than  a  match 
for  the  armed  horsemen  of  the  north.  Until  the 
coming  of  the  British,  however,  the  pagans  dared 
not  show  themselves  upon  the  open  plains  without 
running  the  risk  of  being  chased  and  captured  as 
slaves,  while  now  they  even  bring  the  produce  of 
their  farms  to  the  markets  of  Bauchi.  Situated 
as  it  is  on  the  highroad  to  Bornu,  and  also  within 
easy  reach  of  Ibi,  on  the  Benue,  Bauchi  has  long 
been  an  important  market  town.  Famine  and 
plague,  however,  have  of  recent  years  greatly 
reduced  the  numbers  of  its  inhabitants,  and  ruined 
compounds  and  deserted  farms  are  much  in 
evidence  even  within  the  Walls  themselves. 

I  had  reached  Bauchi  from  Loko  in  seventeen 
easy  days,  and  I  now  decided  to  make  a  circular 
tour  through  Southern  Bauchi  and  Muri  as  far  as 
Ibi,  returning  again  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
Bauchi  before  setting  out  for  Bornu  and  Lake 
Chad.  Several  of  the  carriers  were  tired  and  foot- 
sore with  crossing  the  plateau,  and  these  were  paid 
off  at  Bauchi  and  replaced  by  others.  I  also 
secured  a  second  pony  in  order  to^avoid  over- 
fatiguing  the  one  I  had  bought  at  Keffi,  as  the 
roads  we  should  have  to  pass  were  many  of  them 
rough  and  stony  and  very  trying  to  the  shoeless 
hoofs  of  the  native  horses.  As  I  proposed  also  to 
visit  ^Sura  en  route,  a  district  which  had  just  been 

93 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

opened  up  by  force  of  arms,  our  little  party  was 
accompanied  from  Bauchi  by  half  a  dozen  native 
police  in  blue  serge  tunics  and  open  knee-breeches, 
and  armed  with  rifles  and  a  few  rounds  of  ammuni- 
tion. We  crossed  first  the  open  cultivated  plains 
around  Bauchi  and  then  passed  to  the  right  of 
Mount  Buli,  whose  pagan  inhabitants  we  could 
see  rushing  excitedly  up  and  down  the  rocky 
slopes.  Beyond  Mount  Buli  and  the  neighbour- 
ing lesser  hills  we  entered  again  the  open  park- 
like plain  studded  with  small  Fulani  villages,  each 
composed  of  a  few  family  compounds  surrounded 
by  zana  matting,  but  conspicuously  without  the 
earthen  ramparts  and  ditches  of  the  Hausa  towns. 
The  landscape,  moreover,  still  retained  its  charac- 
teristic scenery,  with  domes,  turtlebacks,  and 
kopjes  of  granite  rising  like  islands  from  the  level 
surface  of  the  plain.  We  camped  for  the  night  at 
Lugge,  and  next  day  continued  our  march  through 
very  similar  country,  passing  now  a  rounded  dome, 
now  a  rocky  kopje,  and  now  a  short,  isolated  range 
of  granite  hills.  We  passed  many  more  Fulani 
hamlets,  and  the  chiefs,  who  were  mostly  mounted, 
came  out  to  meet  me  and  do  me  homage  and  lead 
me  through  their  villages,  while  as  soon  as  I  came 
in  sight  of  the  huts  the  women  trilled  their  shrill 
Fulani  greeting  from  the  shelter  of  their  com- 
pounds. As  we  approached  Bula  we  could  see  on 
the  right  the  fantastic  peaks  of  the  Dass  and  Polchi 
hills,  hazy  in  the  distance,  while  our  path  led 
across  many  fair-sized  streams,  the  tributaries  or 
head-waters   of   the    Gongola.      Beyond    Bula    the 

94 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

farm  clearings  began  to  alternate  with  stretches 
of  thin  and  open  bush,  while  beyond  Shell,  where 
we  halted  for  the  night,  the  path  gradually  became 
rougher  and  stonier,  until  Lere  came  in  sight.  The 
old  king  and  his  chiefs  were  waiting  for  me  on  the 
banks  of  the  Lere  River,  and  we  followed  him 
through  the  town  to  the  bariki,  which  was  set  on 
rising  ground  to  the  south.  I  informed  him  of  my 
intention  to  push  on  southward  to  Kereng,  in  the 
Sura  country,  and  arranged  with  him  to  send  on 
a  messenger  that  evening  to  the  next  town  of  Pyem 
to  warn  the  inhabitants  that  a  white  man  was 
coming  on  the  morrow. 

The  town  of  Lere  is  the  last  Mohammedan 
settlement  which  one  passes  before  entering  the 
pagan  country  to  the  south.  It  lies  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  Bauchi  plateau,  where  the  latter 
merges  gradually  without  any  precipitous  descent 
into  the  open  plains  of  the  Gongola.  The  people 
of  Lere,  moreover,  have  established  friendly  rela- 
tions with  the  Pyemawa,  the  frontier  pagan  tribe, 
although  the  intercourse  between  them  is  neces- 
sarily somewhat  limited.  There  is  a  perceptible 
rise  all  the  way  from  Lere  to  Pyem,  while  the 
country  is  somewhat  broken  and  rocky  and  covered 
with  thin  and  open  bush.  As  we  neared  Pyem  we 
heard  the  sound  of  native  drums,  and  on  reaching 
the  base  of  the  low  rise  on  which  the  rest-camp 
was  set  we  saw  the  cause  of  the  commotion.  The 
king  of  Pyem,  on  learning  that  a  white  man  was 
on  the  way,  had  come  out  to  the  rest -camp  with 
a  number  of  his  men  to  make  everything  neat  and 

95 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

clean  for  the  visitor.  As  soon  as  he  saw  me  the 
old  king,  who  was  himself  directing  operations, 
came  running  forward  to  salute  me,  accompanied 
by  one  or  two  of  the  principal  men  of  the  town, 
dressed  in  well-worn  gowns  and  rigas.  All  the 
other  workers  were  either  quite  naked  or  simply 
clad  in  a  small  apron  of  antelope  skin.  From  the 
rest-house  an  excellent  view  could  be  had  to  the 
west  of  an  apparently  unbroken  plain,  covered  with 
low  and  scrubby  trees  and  stretching  away  as  far 
as  one  could  see  in  the  direction  of  Bukuru  and 
Ngell.  Eastward  lay  the  town  of  Pyem,  built 
round  a  number  of  rocky  hillocks,  consisting  of 
isolated  hamlets  set  in  large  rectangular  compounds 
fenced  with  prickly  cactus,  after  the  manner  of  the 
Kibyen  towns  on  the  summit  of  the  plateau. 
Behind  Pyem  also  there  were  prominent  in  the 
distance  the  lofty  peaks  of  the  unexplored  Wadai 
hills,  which  rise  to  a  height  of  six  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level  and  form  the  eastern  boundary  of 
the  plateau  proper. 

It  had  been  arranged  that  the  king  of  Pyem, 
who  was  able  to  speak  the  Sura  tongue,  should 
accompany  me  on  the  morrow,  and  we  accordingly 
set  out  early  on  our  march  to  the  country  of  these 
southern  pagans.  We  passed  at  first  through  alter- 
nating farmland  and  open  forest,  where  the  low 
trees  were  set  in  bushy  clumps  with  grassy  glades 
between.  Occasionally  we  crossed  a  stream 
densely  fringed  with  thickets  of  bamboo,  and  soon 
we  reached  the  summit  of  a  rise  from  which  the 

plains  of  Sura  could  be  seen  stretching  southward 

y6 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

in  the  distance.  The  high  bush  now  gradually  dis- 
appeared, and  was  replaced  by  thin  and  open  scrub, 
which  in  its  turn  gave  place  to  the  grassy  culti- 
vated plains  of  Panyam,  picturesquely  decorated 
only  by  belts  of  palms  along  the  watercourses. 
We  had  now  reached  a  height  of  3,500  feet,  and 
had  apparently  passed  above  the  forest-line  and 
entered  open  treeless  plains  similar  to  those  around 
Bukuru  on  the  summit  of  the  plateau,  and  with 
which  the  plains  of  Sura  were  in  all  probability 
continuous.  Their  treeless  aspect,  however,  was 
evidently  not  due  to  altitude,  but  rather  to  artificial 
deforestation  in  times  gone  by,  for  roots  and 
stumps  were  still  occasionally  to  be  found  on  the 
open  plains,  while  large  and  shady  trees  still 
flourished  amongst  the  rocks  around  which  the 
towns  were  built. 

Panyam,  the  first  of  the  Sura  towns,  is  built 
round  a  number  of  rocky  granite  hills,  and,  like  all 
the  other  towns  of  the  plateau,  is  protected  by 
thick  hedges  of  prickly  cactus.  The  king  of 
Panyam,  dressed  in  a  short  kilted  gown  and  accom- 
panied by  a  number  of  naked  retainers,  came  run- 
ning out  to  meet  us.  Many  of  the  men  wore,  as 
their  only  dress,  greaves  of  polished  iron  on  their 
legs,  and  these,  I  was  informed,  were  the  "  big 
men  "  or  chiefs  of  the  town.  After  they  had  bowed 
to  the  ground  and  put  dust  on  their  heads  in  the 
most  approved  fashion,  they  took  their  place  at  the 
head  of  our  little  column  and  led  the  way  along 
a  broad  drive  through  the  middle  of  the  town  to  the 
camping-place  on  the  banks  of  a  clear  and  rapid 

97  G 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

stream,  which  ran  close  to  the  base  of  a  string  of 
low  granite  hills.  The  king  of  Pyem  then  retired 
to  the  town  with  his  friends  of  Panyam,  with  in- 
structions to  urge  upon  the  headmen  the  necessity 
of  bringing  out  a  supply  of  food  for  the  carriers 
before  sundown.  From  our  camp  we  could  see 
on  the  skyline  the  twin  cones  of  Kereng,  which 
seemed  to  beckon  us  on  with  the  hope  of  new  and 
wondrous  things,  and  when  the  kings  brought  out 
the  food  in  the  evening  I  arranged  for  their 
company  and  escort  to  the  summit  of  those  hills 
next  day. 

The  road  to  Kereng  led  over  the  open,  treeless, 
cultivated  plain  to  the  base  of  a  much  denuded 
volcanic  hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  lay  the  town  of 
Yoss.  The  inhabitants,  at  our  approach,  retired 
into  their  huts,  but  the  king  of  Panyam  went  into 
the  town  and  brought  out  the  sariki  to  make  his 
obeisance  and  accompany  us  to  Kereng.  Then  the 
path  rose  over  some  low  granite  hillocks  at  Kogul 
and  crossed  a  narrow  plain  to  Kereng,  which  is 
set  on  some  rocky  hummocks  at  the  base  of  the 
remarkable  double  peak  which  we  had  seen  from 
Panyam.  As  we  rounded  the  last  of  the  granite 
kopjes  before  the  town  came  into  view,  we  met  the 
king  of  Kereng,  a  tall  spare  man  with  a  morose 
and  sullen  countenance.  He  it  was  who  had  led 
the  attack  upon  the  British  column  a  few  months 
before,  and  his  defeat  and  loss  of  independence  had 
left  him  a  sour  and  disappointed  spirit.  When  his 
sentinels  had  warned  him  of  my  approach,  how- 
ever,  he   had   apparently   decided   that    discretion 

98 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

was  the  better  part  of  valour,  and  with  a  couple 
of  retainers  had  taken  his  way  to  the  outskirts  of 
his  town  to  do  me  unwilling  homage.  One  of  the 
native  policemen  who  accompanied  me  had  been 
on  the  previous  expedition,  and  at  sight  of  him 
began  to  curse  him  as  a  vile  rascal  who  had  dared 
to  oppose  the  British  arms  ;  and  it  was  amusing, 
as  the  king  knelt  down  and  put  dust  on  his  head  in 
token  of  subjection,  to  see  him  come  forward  with 
an  air  of  much  importance  and,  remarking  "  Sa 
diawa!  Sa  dlawa!  "  ("  Put  plenty  !  Put 
plenty!"),  clap  a  large  handful  of  mud  on  the 
shaven   crown  of  the   unfortunate   king. 

With  the  five  kings  of  Pyem,  Panyam,  Yoss, 
Kogul,  and  Kereng  in  line  in  front  of  me,  the 
royal  procession  moved  on  through  the  half- 
deserted  town  and  up  to  the  base  of  the  great  cone 
which  dominates  the  landscape  around.  Here  I 
dismounted,  and  in  the  same  order  we  began  to 
climb  the  main  peak,  which  rises  to  a  height  of 
about  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  plain.  There 
was  now  a  thin  harmattan,  obscuring  a  distant 
view,  and  the  air  was  hot  and  stifling ;  but  with 
frequent  halts  to  draw  our  breath  we  at  last  reached 
the  summit.  We  found  that  the  composite  cone 
enclosed  two  extinct  volcanic  craters,  one  much 
more  perfect  than  the  other,  while  the  ridge  up 
which  we  had  climbed  was  the  old  northern  wall  of 
the  more  imperfect  crater.  From  the  summit  we 
gazed  down  upon  the  open  treeless  plains  which 
stretched  away  westward  as  far  as  we  could  see, 
with  the  low   granite  hills  and   kopjes  appearing 

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On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

as  quite  insignificant  hummocks  on  the  level  sur- 
face of  the  plain.  To  the  south  also  there  was 
visible  in  the  hazy  light  quite  a  number  of  smaller 
volcanic  cones  and  craters,  some  of  them,  to  all 
appearance,  very  perfect  in  form  and  structure. 
Unfortunately  the  harmattan  rendered  a  clearer 
view  impossible,  but  nevertheless  it  was  with  a 
feeling  of  considerable  satisfaction  that  I  at  last 
turned  to  descend  the  old  crater  wall  and  retrace 
my  steps  to  the  camp  at  Pan  yam. 

In  the  evening,  as  I  was  resting  in  my  tent,  my 
interpreter  came  up  and  informed  me  that  the 
carriers  were  beginning  to  fear  that  the  towns- 
people might  attack  them  by  night,  instead  of  only 
sullenly  resenting  their  presence  as  they  had 
hitherto  done.  According  to  him,  the  pagans  had 
been  remarking  that  the  policemen  who  were  our 
escort  were  not  real  soldiers,  since  they  were 
dressed  in  blue  serge  and  not  in  the  khaki  which 
they  had  learnt  to  fear.  Nor  did  they  believe  that, 
though  they  carried  rifles,  they  could  be  the  same 
as  those  which,  in  the  hands  of  the  soldiers,  had 
dealt  such  terrible  destruction  from  so  great  a  dis- 
tance. They  were,  moreover,  inclined  to  become 
insolent  and  to  disobey  even  the  commands  of 
their  king  when  he  issued  orders  to  his  people  to 
prepare  extra  food  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
carriers.  When,  therefore,  the  king  of  Panyam 
and  some  of  his  people  came  out  with  only  a  very 
small  quantity  of  meal,  I  instructed  the  corporal 
in  charge  of  the  police  to  place  his  men  behind 
the  little  group  of  townspeople  and  fire  a  couple  of 


100 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

rounds  of  ammunition  in  the  air,  so  that  those  who 
were  sitting  in  front  of  me  and  their  friends  in 
the  town  behind  might,  when  they  heard  the  sound 
of  the  rifles  reverberating  amongst  the  hills,  recall 
their  former  experiences  of  the  white  man's 
weapons  and  modify  their  demeanour  accordingly. 
Apparently  this  had  the  desired  effect,  for  the  king 
and  the  chiefs  had  barely  had  time  to  reach  their 
compounds  when  the  former  returned  with  an 
ample  supply  of  food  for  myself  and  the  carriers. 

Next  morning  we  left  early  for  Pyem,  the  king  of 
Panyam  accompanying  us  for  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  his  town  and  protesting  slyly,  as  he  said 
goodbye,  his  everlasting  devotion  to  the  white  man, 
to  whom  he  now  stood  in  the  happy  relationship  of 
son  to  father.  At  Pyem  we  bade  farewell  to  the 
kindly  old  king,  who  had  accompanied  and  stood 
by  us  on  our  visit  to  Kereng  at  much  discomfort 
and  inconvenience  to  himself ;  and  after  a  short 
rest  we  pushed  on  to  Lere,  the  carriers  and  myself 
being  equally  pleased  to  find  ourselves  once  more 
in  the  vicinity  of  a  Mohammedan  town.  On  the 
following  day  at  dawn  we  set  out  for  the  rocky 
Angass  country  en  route  for  Wase.  First  we  crossed 
the  open  cultivated  plains  around  Lere,  and  then 
passed  through  pleasant  parklike  country  to  the 
village  of  Sara,  at  the  base  of  the  Wadai  hills. 
A  steep  descent  immediately  beyond  led  into  a 
narrow  cultivated  valley  which,  as  we  traversed  it, 
gradually  opened  out  until  we  entered  another 
grassy  parklike  plain  at  a  somewhat  lower  level, 
bounded  in  the  distance  on  the  right  by  a  semi- 

lOI 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

circle  of  hills  which  marked  the  margin  of  the 
plateau.  The  path  led  straight  across  the  open 
plain  to  where  the  hills  again  projected  towards 
the  north,  passing  on  the  way  the  village  of  Boi, 
a  fair-sized  Angass  settlement,  built  round  a  few 
rocky  knolls  in  the  middle  of  the  plain.  After  a 
short  halt  we  hastened  on  to  Goshin  Duchi,  a  small 
Angass  town  built  at  the  base  and  on  the  slopes  of 
the  hills,  which  had  now  again  curved  round  to 
meet  our  path. 

The  Angass  tribe  consists  of  two  sections— the 
Angass  of  the  plains  and  the  Angass  of  the  hills. 
The  former,  from  their  position,  have  in  the  past 
come  more  into  contact  with  the  northern  tribes, 
and  are  somewhat  more  civilised  and  less  sus- 
picious of  strangers.  The  hill  Angass,  however, 
have  inhabited  their  rocky  fastnesses  from  time 
immemorial,  unmolested  and  unvisited  by  the 
peoples  of  the  plain.  With  few  wants  in  the  way 
of  dress,  and  no  luxuries  but  tobacco  and  home- 
brewed ale,  and  no  excitements  but  a  native  dance 
or  an  occasional  intertribal  war,  they  have  found 
contentment  in  cultivating  the  narrow  valleys 
amongst  the  hills  and  in  scraping  together  in 
terraces  the  scanty  soil  on  the  mountain  slopes 
whereon  to  grow  their  winter's  grain.  Naturally, 
therefore,  they  are  disinclined  to  welcome 
strangers,  and  from  the  lower  plains  we  could 
see  their  sentinels  on  the  heights  above  keeping  a 
watchful  eye  upon  our  movements.  We  camped, 
however,  amongst  the  Angass  of  the  plains,  who, 
while  not  actively  resenting  our  presence,   by  no 

I02 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

means  welcomed  us  with  enthusiastic  hospitality. 
We  troubled  them  therefore  as  little  as  possible, 
and  then  only  for  the  necessaries  of  existence,  and 
left  early  in  the  morning  for  Ampler,  the  next  stage 
on  our  journey  to  Wase. 

The  path  led  first  through  several  Angass  vil- 
lages, and  then  into  a  tract  of  broken,  rocky 
country,  over  which  the  road  descended  from  the 
upper  plains  of  Bauchi  to  the  lower  plains  of  Yer- 
gum  and  Wase.  The  road  was  one  of  the  worst 
and  roughest  which  we  had  yet  experienced  in  the 
Protectorate,  and  when  we  reached  Ampler  after 
a  long  and  weary  march,  both  men  and  horses  were 
much  fatigued.  The  town  itself,  the  last  of  the 
Angass  settlements  along  this  route,  is  large  and 
scattered,  consisting  of  a  number  of  detached 
hamlets,  each  set  on  the  summit  of  a  low  and 
rocky  hillock,  and  surrounded  by  the  stony  terraces 
on  which  the  natives  grow  their  grain.  We  camped 
beside  a  tiny  stream  in  the  centre  of  a  circle  of 
these  rocky  eminences,  from  the  summits  of  which 
the  natives  gazed  sullenly  at  our  preparations  for 
the  night.  Towards  evening  their  headmen,  after 
much  persuasion,  brought  down  a  small  quantity  of 
meal,  sufficient  to  provide  a  scanty  supper  for  the 
carriers,  who,  though  weary  and  footsore,  were 
early  on  the  move  next  morning,  anxious  to  push 
on  to  Wase,  where  in  the  native  market  they  would 
be  able  to  procure  abundance  of  both  the  neces- 
saries and  luxuries  of  life.  For  a  time  the  road  con- 
tinued stony,  but   soon  we  entered   a   broad  and 

sandy  valley,  over  which  we  made  rapid  progress  ; 

103 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

and  as  we  reached  the  summit  of  the  rise  beyond, 
the  carriers  hailed  with  a  cry  of  joy  the  distant 
Rock  of  Wase,  whose  summit,  white  and  shining 
in  the  morning  sun,  towered  high  above  the  wooded 
plains  of  Yergum,  to  which  our  path  descended. 

As  we  crossed  the  thinly  wooded  plains, 
decorated  with  scattered  kopjes  of  granite  and 
occasional  hummocks  of  basalt,  we  passed  several 
Yergum  towns,  whose  inhabitants  seemed  very 
similar  in  appearance  and  demeanour  to  the  Angass 
of  the  plains  whom  we  had  left  behind.  We 
hastened  on,  however,  to  the  Wase  River,  which  we 
forded  at  Salve  ;  and  here  we  joined  the  direct  road 
from  Bauchi  to  Wase,  which  followed  the  left  bank 
of  the  river  up  to  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  town.  Wase  itself  is  a  large  and  important 
place,  originally  founded  as  a  Hausa  slaving 
settlement  from  the  north,  for  which  its  position 
made  it  peculiarly  fitted,  situated  as  it  is  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  all  the  pagan  tribes 
which  inhabit  the  rocky  margin  of  the  Bauchi 
plateau.  Built  round  a  number  of  hillocks  of  sand- 
stone, enclosed  by  a  well-preserved  wall  and  ditch, 
and  protected  on  the  south  and  west  by  the  river, 
the  town  offered  at  first  a  stubborn  resistance  to 
the  advance  of  the  British  as  they  forced  their 
way  northward  from  Ibi  to  Bauchi.  Now, 
however,  it  possesses  one  of  the  finest  rest- 
camps  in  the  Protectorate,  the  huts  being  well 
and  substantially  built  and  picturesquely  shaded  by 
large  and  leafy  trees.  Moreover,  the  resources 
and  position  of  the  town  make  it  an  ideal  residen- 

104 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

tial  station.  It  lies  about  a  thousand  feet  above 
sea-level,  in  country  which  has  been  cleared  of 
bush  all  round,  and  on  the  banks  of  a  pleasant 
running  stream,  while  from  the  town  can  be  pro- 
cured fresh  meat  and  fresh  milk  in  abundance, 
with  fowls,  eggs,  yams,  onions,  limes,  and  paw- 
paws, and  all  the  other  necessaries  of  a  white 
man's  life.  So  health-giving  and  restful  indeed  is 
the  atmosphere  of  Wase  that  semi-invalids  from  the 
banks  of  the  Benue  are  frequently  sent  northward 
to  recuperate  underneath  the  shady  trees  of  the 
rest-camp  and  away  from  the  clammy  air  and  the 
insect  life  of  the  river  bank. 

The  Rock  of  Wase,  which  dominates  the  town 
and  the  landscape  for  miles  around,  is  a  feature 
of  remarkable  interest.  In  form  columnar,  it  rises 
precipitously  from  the  open  plain  to  a  height  of 
about  eight  hundred  feet  like  some  great  monument 
to  the  mighty  giants  of  old.  Its  summit  is  capped 
with  a  deposit  of  white  guano,  which  reflects  all 
the  changing  tints  of  the  rising  and  the  setting 
sun.  In  the  harmattan  it  looms  dark  and 
mysterious  through  the  misty  air,  and  in  the  sun- 
light it  shines  clear  and  grey  as  it  beckons  distant 
travellers  to  the  pleasant  city  at  its  base.  Besides 
the  spirits  of  the  rock,  it  is  inhabited  only  by  a 
number  of  giant  baboons,  who  effectually  guard 
the  secrets  of  the  summit,  and,  aided  by  the  pre- 
cipitous character  of  the  sides,  have  hitherto  suc- 
cessfully prevented  any  intrusion  from  below.  The 
Rock  itself,  moreover,  speaks  eloquently  of  bygone 
ages,   for  it   consists   of  a   pillar   of  trachyte,   the 

105 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

neck  or  stump  of  an  ancient  volcano,  from  the 
summit  of  which  there  once  belched  forth  smoke 
and  steam  and  molten  rock  upon  the  plains  of 
Muri. 

The  old  king  of  Wase  was  most  attentive  to 
my  wants,  but  in  spite  of  his  entreaties  to  accept 
his  hospitality  for  another  day  I  decided  to  push  on 
at  once  to  Ibi,  and  for  that  purpose  we  left  at 
dawn  for  Yelwa.  The  road  led  first  alongside  the 
outer  wall  of  the  town  and  then  across  the  Wase 
River,  out  of  the  farmland  with  its  pretty  parklike 
aspect  and  through  a  stretch  of  thin  and  open  bush 
to  the  ruined  villages  of  Gurkawa.  These  are  set 
on  the  southern  slope  of  the  Gurkawa  hills,  and 
were  formerly  inhabited  by  a  truculent  pagan  tribe 
whose  joy  it  was  to  levy  heavy  toll  upon  the 
passing  traders,  and,  more  frequently  than  not,  to 
confiscate  the  whole  of  their  goods  and  ill-treat  or 
murder  the  traders  themselves.  So  many  com- 
plaints were  received  at  Ibi  of  their  insulting 
behaviour  that  at  last  instructions  were  issued  to 
a  passing  column  to  visit  the  tribe,  and  if  they 
would  not  promise  to  amend,  to  inflict  upon  them 
condign  punishment  for  their  past  misdeeds. 
Needless  to  say,  however,  the  pagans  retired  to 
the  hills  at  the  approach  of  the  soldiers,  so  that  the 
only  punishment  that  could  be  inflicted  on  them 
was  to  burn  the  roofs  of  their  huts  and  granaries 
and  break  down  their  defences  and  the  blackened 
walls  of  their  compounds. 

Between    Wase   and    Gurkawa    we   had    passed 

several     conical     hills,     the     remains     of    ancient 

1 06 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

volcanoes,  and  beyond  Gurkawa  we  met  them 
again  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Donkwon,  a 
stockaded  pagan  village  whose  inhabitants  have 
now  given  up  their  ancient  custom  of  raiding 
passing  caravans  and  devoted  themselves  en- 
tirely to  agriculture.  We  stopped  to  rest  at 
the  pools  beyond  the  village,  and  then  moved 
on  to  Yelwa,  a  semi-deserted  Hausa  settle- 
ment in  the  midst  of  the  country  of  the  Ankwe 
pagans.  The  walls  of  the  town  and  of  the  king's 
compound  were  sorely  dilapidated,  and  the  king 
himself,  of  only  four  years'  standing,  professed 
the  direst  poverty,  and  in  undignified  fashion,  like  a 
simple  pagan,  squatted  down  in  front  of  my  tent  to 
watch  me  eating  and  drinking,  until  I  had  to  ask 
him  to  be  so  good  as  to  retire  to  his  own  quarters. 

Next  morning  we  struck  off  southward  through 
the  Ankwe  country,  and  after  passing  out  of  the 
Yelwa  farms  traversed  stretches  of  thick  bush 
alternating  with  open  grassy  glades.  We  passed 
Ajikumai,  a  small  Ankwe  village  surrounded  by 
a  dilapidated  stockade,  and  then  entered  a  belt  of 
open  grassland,  burnt  bare  and  black  in  places, 
which  intervened  between  the  village  and  the 
Simanka  River.  These  belts  of  grassy  country, 
with  few  and  scattered  trees,  lie  at  a  lower  level 
than  the  adjoining  tracts  of  bush-covered  land, 
and  are  found  for  the  most  part  wherever  the  banks 
of  the  rivers  and  their  tributaries  are  so  low  as  to 
permit  of  the  flooding  of  the  adjoining  country 
during     the     summer      rains.       Besides      having 

apparently  a  deleterious  influence  upon  the  growth 

107 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

of  trees,  this  annual  flooding  leaves  behind  a 
deposit  of  black  clay  and  sand,  which  has  accumu- 
lated to  a  considerable  thickness  in  the  course 
of  years.  This  material  can  retain  a  considerable 
quantity  of  water,  and  in  the  dry  season,  after  the 
grass  is  burnt,  the  water  evaporates  and  the  clay 
shrinks  into  less  bulk,  and  the  surface  of  the 
ground  becomes  covered  with  a  network  of  poly- 
gonal cracks.  Moreover,  the  clay,  which  is  plastic 
and  slippery  in  the  rains,  sets  firm  and  tough  when 
dry,  with  the  result  that  the  projecting  edges  of 
the  cracks  are  sharp  and  hard  as  stones  and  most 
painful  for  both  men  and  horses  to  tread  upon 
with  unshod  feet. 

We  crossed  the  Simanka  River  at  Lakoshi, 
where  we  camped  for  the  night,  and  then  moved 
on  over  the  plains  of  Muri  through  pleasant  grassy 
and  parklike  country  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  until  we  reached  Kudu,  a  small  Ankwe  vil- 
lage set  on  a  sandstone  knoll  overlooking  the  plains 
of  the  Simanka  and  the  Benue.  The  rest-house 
was  set  on  the  summit  of  the  rise,  and  from  its 
door  we  could  see  spread  out  below  the  densely 
wooded  plains  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers,  while 
far  away  in  the  distance  to  the  south  there  pro- 
jected above  the  green  and  leafy  sea  another  of 
those  immense  columnar  rocks  which,  like  the 
Rock  of  Wase,  form  such  remarkable  features  in 
the  landscape  of  the  Protectorate.  This  was  the 
Rock  of  Bantaji,  likewise  a  pillar  of  trachyte  and 
the  remains  of  an  ancient  volcano,  which  rose  on 

the    banks    of    the    Donga    close    to    the    town    of 

io8 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

Bantaji,    thirty    miles    away    to    the    south    of    the 
Benue. 

As  Ibi  was  now  close  at  hand,  I  sent  a  messenger 
ahead  to  give  notice  of  our  approach,  and  to 
arrange  about  canoes  for  transporting  the  carriers 
and  horses  across  the  Benue.  In  the  afternoon  we 
left  Kudu,  and  after  travelling  for  a  short  distance 
through  the  forest  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Simanka  River,  we  crossed  to  the  other  side,  and 
almost  immediately  entered  the  open  grassy 
country  which  here  fringes  the  Benue  on  the  north. 
Soon  we  reached  the  margin  of  the  river  itself, 
marked  by  no  steep  banks  of  alluvium,  but  only 
by  a  gently  shelving  shore,  on  which  the  grassy 
plains  behind  gave  place  gradually  to  the  broad 
expanse  of  yellow  sand  which  formed  the  river- 
bed. The  southern  bank,  however,  was  high  and 
well  defined,  and  we  could  already  see  on  the  left 
the  trading  wharf  and  the  white  walls  of  the 
Company's  store,  and  on  the  ridge  to  the  right  the 
row  of  red-roofed  bungalows  which  marked  the 
extent  of  the  Government  quarters.  After 
traversing  the  loose  sand  for  fully  half  a  mile, 
we  reached  at  length  the  dry-season  channel  of 
the  river,  and  found  there  a  number  of  canoes 
waiting  to  transport  our  party  to  the  other  bank. 
There  were  a  few  small  canoes  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  carriers,  a  larger  canoe  for 
myself,  and  a  still  larger  one  for  the  horses. 
Many  traders  from  the  north  were  also  waiting 
on  the  beach  for  transport  to  the  other  side,  some 

with  horseS;,  others   with  droves   of  cattle,   sheep, 

109 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

or  goats.  It  is  customary  when  the  river  is  low 
and  narrow,  to  swim  the  animals  across,  but  as  yet 
the  channel  was  too  wide  for  this  to  be  safely 
attempted.  The  horses  had  therefore  to  be  enticed 
into  the  canoes,  which  with  much  struggling  and 
kicking  was  at  last  accom.plished,  and  two  men 
steadied  them  by  the  head  and  tail  while  they 
were  being  ferried  across  the  river.  The  canoes 
themselves  are  propelled  by  polers,  one  in  the  bow 
and  one  in  the  stern,  who  have  recourse  to  paddles 
when  in  mid-channel  the  depth  of  the  river  exceeds 
the  length  of  their  poles. 

Ibi  was  the  first  trading  station  to  be  established 
by  the  Niger  Company  on  the  Middle  Benue,  and 
it  still  remains  the  district  headquarters  and  the 
most  important  of  all  the  stations  to  the  east  of 
Lokoja.  It  is  now,  moreover,  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  Muri  province  ;  and  the  Resident's  office 
and  bungalow  occupies  the  site  of  the  original 
building  erected  by  the  Niger  Company,  and 
which,  enclosed  within  a  rectangular  wall  of  Euro- 
pean bricks,  did  duty  as  a  fort  in  the  early  days 
of  the  British  occupation.  The  town,  originally 
a  small  Jukum  settlement,  has  grown  rapidly  under 
the  wing  of  the  British,  until  now  it  covers  quite  a 
considerable  area  and  possesses  a  large  permanent 
and  floating  population  of  a  cosmopolitan  type, 
as  well  as  the  largest  native  market  in  the  southern 
provinces.  Before  the  new  road  was  opened  from 
Loko  to  Bauchi  across  the  plateau,  Ibi  was  the 
starting-point  for  all  the  expeditions  and  caravans 

to  Bauchi  and   the  Upper   Gongola,   and  at   that 

no 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

time,  therefore,  it  was  a  good  centre  for  carriers. 
Now,  however,  it  shares  this  reputation  with  Loko, 
and  is  the  point  of  departure  for  expeditions  to 
the  south— to  Tagum,  Katsina,  and  the  German 
border— rather  than  to   the   north. 

I  had,  however,  little  difficulty  in  replacing  with 
fresh  men  the  sick  and  weary  members  of  my  troop  ; 
and  while  we  rested  for  a  day  at  Ibi  I  took  the 
opportunity  of  explaining  to  both  the  old  and  the 
new  members  of  my  retinue  that  it  was  my  inten- 
tion after  visiting  Arofu  and  Awe  to  strike  across 
country  from  Wase  to  Gateri  and  thence  northward 
to  the  Gongola  and  eastward  to  Bornu,  and  that 
I  should  expect  them  to  accompany  me  on  my 
journey  at  least  until  I  returned  to  Hausaland. 
I  then  arranged  for  canoes  to  be  ready  at  the 
wharf  the  following  morning  to  transport  the  whole 
party  to  Tunga,  the  port  for  Arofu,  two  days  down 
river  from  Ibi.  Next  morning,  therefore,  we 
embarked,  accompanied  by  a  few  native  soldiers 
as  escort  to  Arofu,  who  were  to  return  to  Ibi  by 
road  after  our  visit  was  over.  The  horses  were 
induced  to  enter  their  canoes  with  a  little  less 
difficulty  than  on  the  previous  occasion,  and  after 
we  had  pushed  off  they  soon  became  accustomed 
to  the  motion  of  the  canoe  and  able  to  steady 
themselves  without  the  assistance  of  their 
attendants. 

Besides  the  rude  dugouts  of  the  riverine  pagans, 

two   principal   types   of   canoe   are   utilised   by  the 

habitual  travellers  on  the  Benue.      These  are  the 

Kokanda  and  the  Nupe  canoes,   the  former  built 

III 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

for  speed  and  the  latter  for  the  carriage  of  heavy 
and  bulky  goods.  The  floors  of  each  type  are 
fashioned  out  of  a  single  log,  the  former  being 
round-bottomed  with  pointed  ends  and  the  latter 
flat-bottomed  and  sharply  squared  off"  in  front  and 
behind.  The  sides  of  both  types  are  boarded  up 
to  the  requisite  height,  the  roughly  trimmed  planks 
being  held  together  by  straps  and  pins  of  iron 
and  the  seams  stuffed  with  cotton  fibre.  The 
Kokanda  canoes  are  shorter  and  wider,  and  from 
their  shape  more  easily  propelled  by  poles  or 
paddles  than  the  Nupe  type.  The  latter,  on  the 
other  hand,  are  more  stable  and  lack  the  centre- 
poles  and  cross-bars  of  the  former,  while  they 
alone  are  so  designed  as  to  make  it  possible  to 
carry  and  accommodate  cattle,  horses,  and  other 
animals.  A  large  and  roomy  Nupe  canoe,  more- 
over, can  be  made  quite  a  comfortable  houseboat 
for  a  river  journey.  A  portion  of  the  forward  end 
is  fitted  with  a  trellised  arch  of  supple  twigs  and 
covered  either  with  native  mats  or  with  the  canvas 
sections  of  a  tent.  A  camp-chair  is  set  beneath 
this  shady  arch,  and  in  it  one  may  recline  at  one's 
ease,  fanned  and  cooled  by  the  gentle  current  of 
air  which  circulates  beneath  the  canopy  through 
the  gentle  motion  of  the  canoe.  A  provision -box 
in  front  serves  as  a  table,  while  the  meals  are 
cooked  behind  in  the  well  of  the  canoe  over  an 
open  fire  in  an  earthen  pot.  The  canoemen  as 
a  rule  are  particularly  strong  and  muscular  men 
and  possessed  of  a  wonderful  power  of  endurance. 
They  are  accustomed  to  pole  and  paddle  day  after 

112 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

day  from  dawn  to  sunset,  with  only  short  rests  for 
refreshment,  and  they  are  ready  to  continue  their 
work  by  moonhght  if  necessity  should  arise.  The 
poling  of  a  loaded  canoe  up-stream,  moreover,  is 
no  easy  task,  and  they  can  therefore  be  readily 
forgiven  for  taking  the  down-river  journey  more 
deliberately  than  one  is  sometimes  disposed  to 
approve  of. 

Our  canoes  were  dropping  gently  down-stream 
with  the  current,  winding  about  with  the  channel 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  now  floating  peace- 
fully over  deep  water  close  to  the  river  bank,  now 
being  vigorously  propelled  by  the  polers  over  the 
broad  and  shallow  stretches  intervening.  Many 
crocodiles  were  stretched  lazily  on  the  sandbanks, 
gaping  and  basking  in  the  sunshine,  while  from 
the  deeper  pools  hippos  would  raise  their  ugly  heads 
to  gaze  in  wonder  at  the  white  man.  Every  now 
and  then,  as  we  circled  round  a  sandbank,  the 
carriers  would  leap  overboard,  splash  about  in  the 
water  for  some  time,  and  then  run  at  full  speed 
over  the  yellow  sand  to  rejoin  their  canoes.  We 
met  many  traders  passing  up-stream  to  the  markets 
of  Ibi,  now  in  roomy  Nupe  canoes  with  their 
merchandise  safely  stowed  away  underneath  the 
arching  canopy,  now  in  well-filled  Kokandas,  with 
flags  and  streamers  flying  from  the  centre-poles 
and  the  canoemen  singing  lustily  as  they  dug  the 
water  with  their  slender  paddles.  At  midday  we 
stopped  to  lunch  at  our  ease  and  stretch  our  limbs 
on  a  terraced  sandbank  in  mid-stream.  The  sun 
was  hot,  however,  and  it  was  a  relief  to  be  once 

113  H 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

more  afloat,  sheltered  by  the  shady  canopy  of  the 
canoe,  while  the  carriers  covered  themselves  with 
cloths  and  mats  to  ward  off  the  burning  rays,  and 
the  horseboys  every  now  and  then  woke  up  from 
their  slumber  to  sprinkle  water  on  the  backs  pf 
the  patient  animals  in  their  charge. 

It  happened  as  the  heat  began  to  lessen  in  the 
afternoon  that  my  cook  espied  a  herd  of  antelope 
on  the  farther  margin  of  an  extensive  sandbank. 
As  he  professed  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
European  weapons,  I  allowed  him  to  borrow  my 
rifle,  and,  accompanied  by  the  steward-boys  and 
the  interpreter,  he  set  out  over  the  sand,  eager 
to  show  his  prowess  and  confirm  his  reputation  as 
a  hunter.  Unfortunately,  however,  owing  to  care- 
lessness either  on  his  part  or  on  the  part  of  his 
companions,  the  rifle  accidentally  went  off  and  the 
bullet  splintered  the  upper  arm  of  the  elder  boy. 
He  bled  profusely  as  they  carried  him  back  to 
my  canoe,  and  in  the  absence  of  proper  appliances, 
I  could  do  little  but  bind  up  the  arm  in  a  tempo- 
rary fashion  and  send  off  some  men  to  a  neigh- 
bouring village  on  the  river  bank  to  secure  a  canoe 
to  take  him  back  to  Ibi.  It  was  painful  to  sit 
by  him  on  the  river  sandbank  as  he  moaned  and 
cried,  '' Zafe,  zafe,  zafe ! ''  ("Hot,  hot,  hot!"), 
while  he  gradually  became  weaker  and  colder. 
He  bore  it  well,  however,  and  even  stoically,  like 
a  true  Mohammedan.  He  would  call  out  to  me, 
'' AquoL  Allah,  Batarir'  ("There  is  a  God, 
Master!"),    recite   his   ladan   or   common   prayer, 

and  then  begin  to  cry  because  he  would  be  unfit 

114 


Bauchi  to   Ibi 

to  work  for  me  any  more.  I  cheered  him  as  best 
I  could,  and  as  soon  as  a  canoe  had  been  secured, 
I  despatched  him  to  Ibi  in  charge  of  one  of  my 
headmen,  who,  when  he  rejoined  me  later  at  Awe, 
informed  me  that  the  boy  and  his  friends  in  Ibi 
would  not  allow  him  to  take  the  case  to  the 
European  doctor  lest  the  latter  should  amputate 
the  arm.  To  be  maimed  is  to  a  negro  worse  than 
death,  and  the  native  medicine  man  to  whom  the 
boy  was  taken  readily  promised  retention  of  the 
arm  and  complete  recovery  within  a  very  short 
time.  Months  afterwards,  however,  I  heard  that 
the  poor  lad  ultimately  died  under  the  treatment. 

Towards  evening,  as  the  sun  sank  in  the  west  and 
the  air  became  fresher  and  cooler,  we  began  to 
look  about  for  a  suitable  sandbank  on  which  to 
camp  for  the  night.  Many  of  the  banks  were 
already  occupied  by  parties  of  traders  passing  up 
or  down  stream,  who  had  moored  their  canoes  by 
the  waterside  and  lit  their  camp  fires  on  the  sands 
beyond.  At  length  we  drew  into  a  clean  and  tidy 
stretch  of  sand,  close  to  a  patch  of  brushwood 
on  the  river-bank,  to  which  the  carriers  at  once 
made  off  to  gather  firewood  before  evening  fell. 
My  bed  was  comfortably  arranged  upon  the  sand- 
bank before  darkness  fell,  and  soon  my  table  was 
spread  with  quite  a  sumptuous  repast,  but  unfortun- 
ately the  gleam  of  my  lantern  attracted  all  the  fly- 
ing ants  and  water  insects  for  yards  around,  and  as 
they  ceaselessly  persisted  in  thickening  my  soup 
and  gravy  and  even  my  favourite  drinks  with  their 
wings  and  bodies,  I  at  last  gave  up  the  struggle 

"5 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

and  sought  refuge  and  repose  beneath  the  shelter 
of  my  net. 

We  arrived  at  the  landing-place  for  Tunga,  on 
the  right  bank,  early  the  following  afternoon,  and 
on   inquiry  found   that   the   road   to   Arofu   struck 
inland  from  Gidan  Zebu,  a  small  Jukum  village, 
a  little  farther  lower  down  on  the  left  bank.       I 
decided,    therefore,    to    go    on    at    once    to    this 
village,  camp  on  the  river-bank  for  the  night,  and 
proceed  to  Arofu  the  next  day,  leaving  the  canoes 
at    Gidan   Zebu   to   await   my   return   in   order    to 
ferry   our   party  across   again   to    Tunga.      It   was 
my  purpose  in  visiting  Arofu  to  inspect  the  lead- 
mines   from   which    Hausaland  draws   the   bulk   of 
its  supply  of  galena,  whose  principal  use  is  as  a 
cosmetic    for    the    dusky    beauties    of    the    north. 
Arofu  itself  is  a  Hausa  and  Jukum  settlement  on 
the  borders  of  the  Munchi  country,  and  the  latter 
tribe  looks  with  a  suspicious  eye  upon  the  northern 
intruders  who  come  to  dig  the  ore  in  the  country 
of  the  pagans.     When  the  trading  station  was  first 
established  at  Ibi,  the  Niger  Company  for  a  time 
worked  the  lead-mines  of  Arofu  for  the  sake  of 
the  pockets  of  silver  which  are  sometimes  found 
associated    with    the    galena.      The    neighbouring 
iMunchis,   however,  became  turbulent,   and  in  the 
end   attacked   the    European   engineers    and   their 
native  labourers,  who  threw  what  machinery  they 
had  into   the   pits  and  fled   for  their  lives   to   the 
banks  of  the   Benue. 

We  set  out  early  from  Gidan  Zebu,  and  after 

a  short  march  of  about  eight  miles  through  some- 

ii6 


Bauchi  to   Ibi 

what  thickly  wooded  country  arrived  at  Arofu,  after 
passing  a  well  fortified  Munchi  village,  whose  in- 
habitants peered  curiously  and  suspiciously  at  us 
over  the  walls.      At  Arofu,   where  we  camped  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  village,  we  were  received  some- 
what  sullenly,   but   food  and   water   and   corn   for 
the    horses    were,    after    some    delay,    duly    forth- 
coming.    The    day    was    spent    in    examining    the 
lead-m.ines  and  the   country  around.      The   native 
workings  consist  of  a  row  of  pits  about  thirty  feet 
deep  along  the  outcrop  of  the  lode,  connected  by 
a   narrow   underground  gallery.      For   the   greater 
part  of  the  year  the  pits  are  full  of  water,  and  it 
is  only  towards  the  middle  of  the  dry  season  that 
the  water  becomes  sufficiently  low  to  allow  of  its 
being  baled  out  by  the  native  workers.     The  lode 
itself  is  narrow  and,  worked  as   it  is  in  primitive 
fashion,  the  amount  of  galena  extracted  in  a  season 
is  comparatively  small,  since  a  considerable  amount 
of  barren  rock  has  to  be  extracted  before  the  ore 
itself  can  be  obtained. 

In  the  course  of  the  afternoon,  as  I  wandered 
about  the  workings,  old  and  new,  in  the  bush 
outside  the  village,  I  noticed  a  number  of  the 
townspeople  sullenly  following  me  about,  and  my 
guide,  who  seemed  to  feel  himself  responsible  for 
my  safety,  kept  urging  me  to  hurry  on  and  not 
delay  my  return  to  camp.  There  appeared  to  be 
also  a  considerable  amount  of  coming  and  going 
of  armed  natives  between  Arofu  and  the  neighbour- 
ing villages,  from  which  came  the  sound  of  rapid 

and  excited  drumming.     As  the  Munchis  have  an 

117 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

evil  reputation,  I  began  to  suspect  that  some  mis- 
chief was  brewing,  but  as  a  hurried  departure 
would  probably  have  precipitated  matters,  I 
decided  to  stay  where  I  was  for  the  night,  and 
as  a  precaution  against  alarm  posted  sentries,  one 
at  either  end  of  the  main  street  of  the  village,  one 
beside  my  camp,  and  one  some  distance  along  the 
bush  road  beyond.  These  preparations  evidently 
impressed  the  natives,  for  although  the  drumming 
continued  in  the  neighbouring  villages  to  a  very 
late  hour,  my  rest  was  peaceful  and  undisturbed. 
Next  morning,  as  the  river  was  not  far  off,  we  set 
about  our  departure  in  deliberate  fashion,  and,  re- 
tracing our  steps,  reached  Gidan  Zebu  and  the 
bank  of  the  Benue  in  time  for  luncheon  ^pleased 
with  our  little  excursion  to  the  far-famed  mines 
of  Arofu. 

We  crossed  the  river  again  to  the  Tunga  beach, 
and  after  discharging  the  canoes  set  out  for  Tunga 
itself,  which  is  an  hour's  march  inland  from  the 
river.  The  town,  a  Hausa  settlement,  is  situated 
on  the  main  road  from  Ibi  and  Arofu  to  the  salt- 
fields  of  Awe,  and  in  the  dry  season  is  particularly 
badly  supplied  with  water.  My  camp  was  pitched 
outside  the  town  near  some  muddy  water-holes,  the 
best  that  could  be  found,  and  after  the  abundant 
supplies  to  which  we  had  been  accustomed  on  the 
river,  we  took  somewhat  unkindly  to  both  the 
quantity  and  the  quality  of  the  water  available. 
Even  the  carriers  I  found  were  anxious  to  push 
on  to  Awe,  where  supplies  of  all  kinds  were  obtain- 
able,  and   next   morning   they   were    early   on   the 

ii8 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

scene,  ready  for  the  march  of  twelve  miles  to  the 
salt -making  city,  which  they  accomplished  in  little 
more  than  three  hours. 

Awe,  the  centre  of  the  salt -making  industry  in 
western  Muri,  is  a  large  and  closely  built  Hausa 
town,  with  a  well  preserved  wall,  set  on  an  island, 
as  it  were,  in  the  middle  of  a  circle  of  bare  and 
rocky  ground,  from  which  the  soil  has  been  almost 
entirely  removed.  It  lies,  moreover,  in  the  bottom 
of  a  hollow  between  two  parallel  ridges  of  rising 
ground,  and  as  one  approaches  from  the  south  the 
city  suddenly  comes  into  view  as  a  green  and  palmy 
oasis  in  a  brown  and  grassy  plain.  All  round 
the  town  for  a  considerable  distance  the  plain  has 
been  cleared  and  cultivated,  but  beyond  the  farms 
the  wooded  plains  can  be  seen  stretching  away  to 
the  west  and  surrounding  the  bases  of  a  number 
of  the  isolated  and  conical  hills  which  rise  con- 
spicuously in  the  distance  and  bear  witness,  like 
the  Rocks  of  Wase  and  Bantaji,  to  the  former 
presence  of  volcanic  activity  upon  the  plains  of 
Muri.  The  Awe  River,  moreover,  flows  close  to 
the  city  wall  and  drains  the  surplus  water  of  the 
springs  around  the  town. 

We  crossed  the  rocks,  all  encrusted  with  salt, 

which  lie  in  front  of  the  Tunga  gate,  and  passed 

through  the  middle  of  the  clean  and  prosperous - 

looking  town,  past  the  market-place,  the  masalajl 

or  mosque,  and  the  king's  compound,  and  out  again 

at  the  northern  gate  to  camp  on  the  banks  of  the 

Awe  River,  which  was  at  this  season  nothing  but 

a    string    of    pools.     The    salt,    which    made    the 

119 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

original  Jukum  village  of  Awe  a  desirable  posses- 
sion in  the  eyes  of  the  Hausa  conquerors,  is  won 
from  weak  brine  which  rises  in  springs  around  the 
walls  of  the  town.  The  brine  is  carried  by  the 
women  in  water-pots  from  the  springs  and 
sprinkled  upon  loose  dry  earth  spread  out  in  a  thin 
layer  upon  a  hard  and  smooth  surface  of  rock  or 
clay.  As  soon  as  the  heat  of  the  sun  has 
evaporated  the  water,  the  earth  is  scraped  up  and 
recrumbled  and  again  spread  out  and  watered. 
This  process  is  repeated  twice  or  thrice  daily  for 
about  a  week,  when  the  particles  of  earth  are  fairly 
thickly  encrusted  with  a  deposit  of  salt.  The  earth 
is  then  scraped  up  for  the  last  time  and  carried 
into  the  compounds  within  the  walls  of  the  town, 
where  it  is  placed  in  large  earthenware  pots  per- 
forated at  the  bottom.  A  small  quantity  of  water  is 
then  thrown  on  top,  and  this  filters  down  through 
the  pot,  dissolving  the  salt  and  dripping  slowly 
from  the  holes  in  the  bottom  as  a  concentrated 
solution  of  brine.  This  is  then  placed  over  an 
open  fire  and  the  water  slowly  evaporated,  leaving 
in  the  pot  a  solid  mass  of  sodium  chloride,  with  a 
greater  or  less  amount  of  earth  and  other  impuri- 
ties. The  whole  process  is  long  and  tedious,  but 
even  so,  a  considerable  amount  of  salt  is  thus 
annually  recovered  from  the  weak  brine  of  the 
springs.  Unfortunately,  however,  this  work  cannot 
go  on  during  the  rainy  season,  for  the  saltfields, 
owing  to  their  low-lying  position,  are  then  under 
water,    and   even   when   the   waters    have   receded 

a  considerable  amount  of  time  has  to  be  wasted 

1 20 


Bauchi  to  Ibi 

in  cleaning  out  the  springs  and  clearing  away  the 
deposit  of  mud  and  silt  which  the  floods  have  left 
upon  the  surface  of  the  saltfields.  The  competi- 
tion in  the  native  markets  between  this  salt  ,of 
local  manufacture  and  imported  European  salt  is 
very  keen,  and  already  many  of  the  lesser  villages 
around  Awe  have  been  compelled  to  close  their 
saltfields.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  there  is 
little  hope  of  preserving  this  native  industry,  for 
the  brine,  though  in  places  abundant,  is  so  weak 
that  the  return  in  salt  would  never  repay  the 
cost  of  erecting  and  maintaining  an  expensive 
evaporating  plant. 

At  Awe  a  party  of  labourers  from  Lokoja  and 
a  native  engineer  were  at  this  time  engaged  in 
boring  for  new  salt-springs.  Upon  my  arrival  the 
engineer,  who  hailed  from  the  Gold  Coast,  pre- 
sented me  with  the  following  characteristic 
production   of  the   half -educated  native  :— 

"  Sir,— I  beg  mostly  respectfully  to  submit  to 
you  this  my  resignation  as  the  boring  engineer. 
The  chief  of  my  resignation  is  on  account  of  fre- 
quently trouble  that  I  am  received  from  two  of 
the  labourers  as  they  are  willful  intentionally  to 
spoil  my  character  as  themselves.  So  therefore 
if  I  were  to  force  myself  into  this  work  with  them, 
they  would  surely  spoil  my  character  without  the 
least  hesitation.  And  more  also  they  will  change 
the  other  labourers  not  to  work  again. 

*'  For  instance  day  before  yesterday  they  fought 
with   one   of   these    countrymen   on   account   of   a 

121 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

woman.  The  man  was  so  annoyed  he  tooked  a 
sword  after  them  and  promised  to  kill  them  and 
hang  himself.  Soon  as  I  heard  the  noise  I  went 
there  and  began  to  comfort  the  man  :  had  it  not 
been  so,  I  speculationed  we  had  civil  war  day 
before  yesterday  on  account  of  this  case  when  they 
were  drunked.  Now  if  I  not  go  there  in  time 
soon  as  I  heard  the  row  and  it  happen  they  killed 
themselves,  I  believed  you  would  put  blame  upon 
me  who  have  to  teach  them  what  to  do  :  while 
if  I  tell  them  to  keep  themselves  in  order,  they 
would  harden  their  hearts  :  so  therefore  I  am 
afraid  of  these  two  men  not  to  put  trouble  on  my 
neck,  because  I  came  here  to  work  but  not  to 
fight.     This  is  the  reason  of  my  resignation. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"L.  O." 

As  on  inquiry  I  found  that  the  fault  lay  as  much 
on  the  one  side  as  on  the  other,  I  accepted  his 
resignation  and  let  him  go. 

I  spent  two  days  at  Awe  exploring  the  salt- 
fields  and  the  volcanic  rocks  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  each  evening  I  was  entertained  by  troops  of 
native  dancers.  We  then  moved  on  over  rapidly 
undulating  and  somewhat  stony  country  to  Azara, 
a  town  whose  principal  industry  is  also  salt-making, 
and  beyond  it  we  camped  in  a  shady  grove  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ankwe  River,  within  easy  distance  of 
the  town  of  Akiri,  which  is  set  at  the  base  of 
some  low  hills  of  ironstone  and  possesses  one 
brine-spring  of  considerable  strength,  surrounded 
by  a  small  saltfield.     Though  small,  however,  the 

122 


Bauchi  to   Ibi 

saltfield  is  quite  perfectly  and  scientifically 
arranged,  the  orifice  of  the  spring  having  been 
artificially  raised  and  the  water  being  led  from  it 
through  narrow  aqueducts  of  clay  to  the  various 
parts  of  the  saltfield.  From  Akiri  we  struck  north- 
eastward again  to  Yelwa,  over  the  undulating, 
thinly  wooded  plains  of  Muri ;  and,  as  time  was 
now  of  some  object,  I  decided  to  push  on  at  once 
to  Wase,  a  distance  of  twenty-three  miles,  and  for 
that  purpose  set  out  at  the  first  streak  of  dawn 
and  breakfasted  at  the  pools  of  Donkwon.  All 
went  well  until  we  reached  the  ruined  villages  of 
Gurkawa,  but  after  that  the  fierce  heat  of  the  noon- 
day sun  began  to  tell  upon  the  carriers.  There 
was  no  water  to  be  found  between  Gurkawa  and 
the  Wase  River,  and  long  before  we  reached  it 
many  of  the  weaker  carriers  had  begun  to  feel 
faint  from  thirst.  They  staggered  on  for  a  time 
with  their  loads  in  a  brave  attempt  to  reach  the 
shelter  of  the  Rock,  but  soon  collapsed  in  a  heap 
by  the  wayside.  The  headmen  dragged  them  off 
the  path  and  left  them  with  their  loads  beside  them 
under  the  shelter  of  a  shady  tree  until  they  could 
return  with  succour  from  the  town.  Most  of  the 
stragglers  found  their  way  to  the  rest -camp  in  the 
cool  evening  air,  but  of  some  of  them  no  trace 
could  anywhere  be  found.  Their  loads  were  dis- 
covered where  they  had  dropped  them  by  the  way- 
side, but  they  themselves  had  evidently,  on  partially 
recovering,  crawled  off  blindly  into  the  bush,  and 
had  either  perished  there  or  fallen  victims  to  the 

pagans  of  the  hills. 

123 


CHAPTER    V 

WASE   TO   GOMBE 

"  Guidance  and  rest,  afid  food  and  fire, 
In  vain  he  ?iever  mtist  required 

The  hills  of  Kanna — Reception  at  Bashar — A  game  reserve — A 
local  superstition — The  power  of  a  ju-ju — Ancient  lead-mines 
— The  rocks  of  Ligri — The  pagan  mind — First  view  of  Tangale 
Peak — A  night  march — Native  iron-furnaces — Smelting  the 
ore — Bush-Fulani — The  river  Gongola  and  its  faddama — A 
picturesque  village — Arrival  at  Gombe. 

As   a   number   of  my   carriers   were   now   hors   de 

combat  as  the  result  of  the  fatigues  of  the  previous 

day's  march,   I   decided  to  leave  them  behind  for 

two  or  three  days  to  rest  and  recuperate  at  Wase 

while   I   myself,   with  all  the   stronger  men,  made 

a  detour  by  way  of  Kanna  and  Kantana  to  Bashar, 

where  the  others  were  instructed  to  join  me  in  four 

days'  time.     We  set  out,  therefore,  from  Wase  to 

travel   northward  along   the  old  trade   route   from 

Ibi  to  Bauchi,  which  leads  through  the  country  of 

the  Kanna  pagans.     As  far  as  Salve  the  road  was 

familiar,  but  beyond  the  village  we  passed  through 

stretches  of  thin  and  open  bush,  interspersed  with 

patches    of    farmland,    until,    as    we    approached 

124 


Wase  to  Gombe 

Kwankyam,  the  road  rapidly  became  rougher  and 
stonier  as  it  led  gradually  upward  to  the  foothills  , 
of  the  plateau.  Kwankyam  is  a  small  and  scattered  / 
pagan  village  set  within  a  circle  of  granite  hills, 
and  now  semi-deserted  since  the  British  occupation, 
for  a  reason  that  is  not  far  to  seek.  Before  the  new 
road  from  Loko  to  Bauchi  across  the  plateau  was 
opened  up,  white  men  were  constantly  passing  up 
and  down  this  road  between  Ibi  and  Bauchi, 
attended  as  the  case  might  be  by  troops  of  native 
soldiers  or  gangs  of  carriers,  and  Kwankyam 
being  a  stage  in  the  journey,  constant  demands 
were  made  upon  the  unfortunate  villagers  for 
supplies  for  the  passing  caravans.  The  country 
all  round  being  rocky  and  stony  and  capable  of 
being  cultivated  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty, 
the  villagers  could  obviously  produce  only  a  very 
small  surplus  of  corn,  and  they  naturally  resented 
being  called  upon  to  draw  upon  this  surplus  at 
the  request  of  every  passing  European.  As  they 
dared  not  refuse,  however,  for  fear  of  punishment, 
they  took  the  wiser  course  of  migrating  to  the 
neighbouring  villages  farther  off  in  the  bush,  where 
they  could  live  quietly  and  peacefully  without  being 
subjected  to  the  unreasonable  demands  of  the  white  j 
man  and  his  native  satellites.  .«-J 

It  was  now  well  known,  however,  that  there  was  a 
shortage  of  food  at  Kwankyam,  and  the  carriers 
had  accordingly  provided  themselves  at  Wase  with 
sufficient  food  for  one  night.  The  king  of  the 
village  brought  me  an  emaciated  fowl  and  a  few 
ancient -looking   eggs,   at   the   same   time   pleading 

125 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the    direst    poverty    and    distress.      Early    in    the 
morning  we  set  out  for  Kanna,  which  lies  on  the 
plateau   more   than   one   thousand   feet   above   the 
level    of    the    plains    of    Muri.      The    road    soon 
became  very  rough  and  stony,  and  led  over  rapidly 
undulating  and  hilly  country  until  we  reached  the 
base  of  the  ascent  which  leads   up  to  the   plains 
above.     With  much  panting  and  perspiring  we  at 
last  reached  the  summit  of  the  pass,  and  after  a 
few  minutes'  rest  we  pushed  on  to  Kanna,  which 
proved  to  be  only  a  short  way  off.     The  town  of 
Kanna  consists  of  a  number  of  scattered  hamlets 
set  partly  on  the  summits  of  the  surrounding  cliffs 
and   partly   in   the   narrow   valley  between.       The 
people  are  pagans  and  for  the  most  part  scantily 
clad,  but  their  king  and  headmen  are  now  accus- 
tomed to   appear   in   Hausa  robes.      The   king   of 
Kanna,  indeed,  is  a  warlike  chief,  who  before  the 
coming  of  the   British  had  not  only   successfully 
defended  his  own  country  from  the  attacks  of  the 
conquering  Fulani,  but  had  also  brought  assistance 
to  the  neighbouring  pagan  tribes  in  their  struggles 
with   the   common   enemy.      In   this    way   he   had 
gradually    extended    his    power    and    jurisdiction 
amongst  the  hills,  until  now  he  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  chiefs  in  southern  Bauchi. 

There  is  a  good  rest-camp  at  Kanna  and  sub- 
stantial huts  for  both  Europeans  and  carriers, 
while  food  seemed  to  be  quite  plentiful  and  the 
natives  willing  to  sell.  On  inquiry  I  found  that 
the  road  to  Bashar  led  through  the  neighbouring 

town  of  Kantana,  which  lies  off  the  beaten  track, 

126 


Wase  to  Gombe 

and  I  accordingly  arranged  with  the  king  to  have 
a  messenger  sent  on  ahead  to  warn  the  townspeople 
of  my  approach.  Next  morning  we  left  Kanna 
and  moved  eastward  through  a  narrow  cultivated 
valley  shut  in  by  rounded  hills  and  heaps  of 
granite  boulders.  As  the  farmland  ceased,  we 
entered  again  a  belt  of  rough  and  stony  country, 
and  at  a  little  distance  we  could  see  the  steep 
escarpment  which  bounded  the  flat-topped  sand- 
stone hills  on  which  the  town  of  Kantana  was  built. 
The  ascent,  however,  was  fairly  easy,  and  on 
reaching  the  summit  we  were  met  by  the  galadlma 
of  the  town,  who  expressed  his  regret  that  the  king 
was  ill  and  unable  to  come  out  to  meet  me.  I 
stopped  for  an  hour  to  examine  the  native  iron- 
furnaces,  for  which  the  town  is  famed,  and  then, 
having  secured  a  guide  from  the  galadima,  pushed 
on  over  the  plateau  on  my  way  to  Bashar,  The 
surface  of  the  plateau  had  been  cut  into  in  a 
peculiar  fashion  by  narrow,  steep-sided,  flat- 
bottomed  valleys,  which  drained  eastward  and 
southward  to  the  plains  below.  For  a  time  the 
path  ran  parallel  with  the  edge  of  the  southern 
escarpment  of  the  plateau,  and  as  we  followed  the 
narrow  track  through  cultivated  fields  and  scrubby 
bush  we  obtained  a  distant  view  of  the  shining 
summit  of  the  Wase  Rock,  standing  sentinel  as  it 
were  over  the  wooded  plains  below.  Soon  we 
began  the  descent  from  the  plateau  down  a  long 
and  narrow  valley  bounded  by  rocky  slopes  of  red 
sandstone.       We    found    the    village    of    Tukkur 

situated  almost  at  the  mouth  of  the  valley  where  it 

127 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

debouched  upon  the  plain,  and  there  we  camped 
for  the  night,  continuing  our  journey  to  Bashar  on 
the   following   morning. 

Bashar  is  a  large  and  important  Hausa  settle- 
ment, picturesquely  built  on  a  ridge  of  rock  which 
rises  somewhat  abruptly  from  the  open  plains. 
The  walls  enclose  a  large  area  of  farmland,  within 
which  the  compounds  are  scattered  singly  or  in 
groups.  The  king  of  Bashar,  who  had  evidently 
received  news  of  my  approach,  was  waiting  for  me 
amongst  the  farms  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
walls  of  the  town.  He  was  dressed  in  a  green  silk 
cloak  over  somewhat  worn  and  dirty  Hausa  robes, 
and  accompanied  by  several  mounted  retainers  and 
the  royal  band,  which  consisted  of  a  drummer,  a 
trumpeter,  and  a  player  on  a  sort  of  reed  instrument, 
all  of  them  mounted.  As  soon  as  I  came  in  sight 
at  the  head  of  the  line  of  carriers,  the  band  struck 
up  their  music  and  the  king's  attendants  galloped 
forward  to  meet  me,  holding  their  right  hands  high 
in  the  air  and  pulling  up  their  horses  sharply  on 
their  haunches  within  half  a  dozen  yards  of  mine  in 
true  Hausa  fashion.  The  procession  then  reformed 
with  the  band  in  front,  followed  by  the  king  and 
his  courtiers,  who  conducted  me  in  state  to  a  roomy 
hut  close  to  the  earthen  walls  of  the  royal  palace. 
Abundant  supplies  of  food  for  myself  and  the 
carriers  were  immediately  forthcoming,  the  king 
being  apparently  anxious  to  show  his  respect  for 
the  white  man  and  his  pleasure  at  our  visit. 

Next  morning  we  left  our  comfortable  quarters 
to  follow  the  bush  road  to  fcb-Jeb,  across  the  Kudu 

128 


Wase  to  Gombe 

Valley,  the  king  accompanying  us  as  before  to  the 

outer  margin  of  the  farms.     He  had  informed  mc 

on  the  previous  day  that  it  would  be  necessary  for 

our  party  to  camp  for  one  night  in  the  bush,  as 

the  nearest  village  was  more  than  thirty  miles  away. 

I   had  taken  the  precaution,   therefore,   of  buying 

two  bags  of  meal  from  the  king  as  food  for  the 

carriers,  and  of  obtaining  as  guide  a  native  hunter 

who  was  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all  the  bush 

tracks  in  the  Kudu  Valley.  This  broad  valley,  which 

is  largely  uninhabited,  forms  a  sort  of  game  reserve 

between  the  provinces  of  Bauchi  and  Muri ;    and 

as  we  went  along,  the  hunter  entertained  me  with 

tales  of  his  prowess  in  hunting  the  bush-cow  and 

the  wart-hog  and  the  other  denizens  of  the  forest. 

Elephant  and  giraffe  are  both  fairly  common,  and 

we  found  the  tracks  of  the  latter  frequently  crossing 

our    path.      Neither,    however,    is    hunted   by   the 

natives,  for  the  story  goes  that  once  a  man  trapped 

and  shot  a  giraffe,  and  soon  after  his  body  swelled 

up  and  his   skin   cracked  and   split,   and   he   died 

in  the  greatest  agony.     Hence  the  natives  believe 

that  these  larger  animals  have  been  endowed  by 

Allah   with   the    maganl,   or  marvellous   power    of 

killing  their  destroyers,  and  so  great  is  the  power 

of  this  superstition  that  it  is  sufficient  to  prevent 

even  their  bravest  men  from  attempting  the  capture 

of  these  lords  of  the  forest. 

We  camped  in  a  shady  grove  beside  some 
muddy  water-holes  which  in  the  rains  are  connected 
by  a  running  stream,  and  next  morning  we  moved 
on  over  the  gently  undulating  plain  through  belts 

129  I 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

of  forest  alternating  with  open  grassy  stretches 
decorated  with  clumps  of  bushy  trees.  At  length 
we  reached  a  prosperous  hamlet  surrounded  by 
extensive  farms,  which  had  been  founded  two  years 
before  by  the  son  of  the  king  of  Bashar.  Like  his 
father,  he  welcomed  me  profusely,  and  begged  me 
to  do  him  the  honour  of  camping  for  the  night 
in  his  village.  On  my  expressing  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  he  would  be  able  to  find  food  for  so  many 
carriers,  he  eagerly  replied  that  he  could  feed  them 
without  the  slightest  difficulty  if  only  I  would  agree 
to  accept  his  hospitality  for  the  night.  I  pleased 
him  by  conceding  his  request ;  and  soon  from  the 
compounds  there  came  the  sound  of  the  cheerful 
singing  of  the  women  as  they  beat  and  ground 
the  corn,  while  my  host  busied  himself  with  find- 
ing quarters  for  the  carriers  and  arranging  for  a 
supply  of  wood  and  water  to  be  brought  to  the 
door  of  my  tent.  Soon  he  returned  with  an  ample 
supply  of  food  for  my  party,  fowls,  eggs,  and 
groundnuts  for  myself,  and  corn,  meal,  rice,  and 
other  delicacies  for  the  carriers.  In  the  evening, 
also,  he  brought  in  addition  several  pots  of  kono 
(a  native  drink)  and  many  calabashes  of  cooked 
food  for  the  carriers  and  a  large  bov/1  of  fresh  milk 
for  myself. 

I  had  heard  at  Bashar  that  galena  had  at  one 
time  been  mined  in  the  bush  somewhere  near  the 
spot  which  I  had  now  reached.  The  story,  indeed, 
was  that  in  the  palmy  days  of  Bauchi,  Yakubu, 
the  great  king,  had  founded  a  mining  settlement 
called  Kerrem  near  the  place  where  the  galena  was 

130 


Wase  to  Gombe 

dug.  During  his  lifetime  extensive  operations  had 
been  carried  on,  but  after  his  death  the  pagans 
of  the  hills  closed  the  road,  sacked  the  town  and 
filled  in  the  pits,  and  although  they  were  afterwards 
severely  defeated,  the  mines  were  never  reopened, 
for  Yakubu  alone  knew  the  ju-ju  rite  which  had  to 
be  performed  before  the  galena  could  be  success- 
fully extracted,  and  with  his  death  the  ju-ju  had 
been  lost  and  in  its  absence  no  one  was  brave 
enough  to  begin  working  the  lead  again.  I  had 
found  the  king  of  Bashar,  although  professedly 
Mohammedan,  strongly  imbued  with  the  idea  of  the 
efficacy  of  this  ju-ju,  and  now  his  son  professed 
entire  ignorance  of  the  site  of  the  ancient  workings. 
He  said,  however,  that  he  would  make  inquiries 
for  me  amongst  the  hunters  of  the  neighbouring 
hamlets,  as  some  of  them  might  possibly  have 
stumbled  upon  them  in  the  course  of  their  wander- 
ings in  the  bush  after  game.  In  a  short  time, 
after  consulting  his  fellow-settlers,  he  returned  to 
say  that  he  believed  that  if  I  were  to  go  to  the 
adjoining  village  of  Pai,  the  headman  there  would 
be  able  to  direct  me  to  the  spot.  I  set  off  at  once, 
accompanied  by  my  host,  but  when  we  reached 
the  village,  its  headman  in  turn  likewise  professed 
entire  ignorance  of  the  whereabouts  of  the  ancient 
workings.  He  was  obviously  lying,  but  it  was 
equally  obvious  that  he  feared  the  power  of  the 
ju-ju  more  than  the  displeasure  of  the  white  man. 
This  was  disappointing,  but  happily  a  sick  man 
who  was  sitting  at  the  door  of  his  hut  and  who 
had  overheard  the  conversation,  apparently  think- 

131 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

ing  that  the  ju-ju  could  do  him  no  further  harm, 
spoke  up  and  said  that  he  knew  where  the  place 
was  and  would  send  his  boy  to  show  me  the  way. 
This  assumption  of  responsibility  apparently  cleared 
the  air  and  the  frowns  departed  from  the  counten- 
ances of  the  villagers,  some  of  whom  followed  me, 
cheerfully  shouting  out  directions  to  my  youthful 
guide  whenever  he  seemed  to  be  in  doubt  as  to 
the  way.  At  length  in  a  patch  of  low  scrub  and 
undergrowth,  where  formerly  had  stood  a  busy 
town,  we  came  upon  the  line  of  ancient  pits,  noiw 
almost  levelled  with  the  surface  and  all  but  covered 
by  the  coarse  bush-grass.  Fragments  of  galena 
and  other  ores  were  scattered  about  the  surface,  and 
after  collecting  a  few  as  samples  I  retraced  my 
steps  to  the  camp,  pleased  that  I  had  at  last 
fathomed  the  mystery  of  the  ancient  mines. 

It  was  a  brilliant  moonlight  night  and  our  genial 
host  entertained  his  visitors  to  quite  a  late  hour 
with  the  deep-voiced  notes  of  a  drum.  In  the 
morning  we  bade  him  a  cordial  farewell  and  set 
out  on  our  march  to  Jeb-Jeb,  about  midway 
crossing  the  Kudu  River,  shallow  and  easily  ford- 
able  at  this  period  of  the  year.  Jeb-Jeb  is  a  small 
and  now  semi-deserted  town,  situated  on  the 
margin  of  the  saltfield  of  eastern  Muri,  where,  as 
in  the  Awe  district,  the  competition  of  European 
salt  has  largely  killed  the  native  industry.  After 
the  lavish  hospitality  of  the  king  of  Bashar  and 
his  son,  we  were  vividly  impressed  by  the  shortage 
of  provisions  in  this  poverty-stricken  town.  This, 
however,  only  made  the  carriers  the  more  ready  to 

1^2 


CI 


Wase  to  Gombe 

quit  it  the  next  morning,  and  at  dawn  we  set  out 
on  a  long  and  tedious  march  to  the  country  of  the 
Ligri  pagans.  For  two -thirds  of  the  way  we 
traversed  still  the  open  grassy  plains  of  the  Kudu 
Valley.  Far  to  the  right  rose  the  misty  peaks  of 
the  Wurkum  hills,  while  in  front  were  the  rounded 
summits  of  the  Ligri  and  Gateri  hills,  which  we 
were  slowly  approaching.  As  we  reached  their 
base,  the  road  rapidly  became  rough  and  stony, 
and  soon  we  entered  a  narrow  valley  amongst  the 
hills,  down  which  there  flowed  a  clear  and  gurgling 
stream.  At  the  head  of  the  valley,  however,  the 
road  led  almost  perpendicularly  up  a  stony  path, 
obstructed  by  many  rocky  barriers,  to  the  town 
of  Ligri,  built  for  defensive  purposes  on  the  broken 
summit  of  the  hills.  After  much  searching  I  at 
last  found  a  vacant  space  where  the  soil  was 
sufficiently  thick  to  hold  the  tent-pegs,  and  while 
my  tent  was  being  erected  I  interviewed  the  king 
of  the  town,  who  came  forward  sullenly  to  greet 
me.  As  soon  as  I  had  explained  that  I  and  my 
party  were  only  passing  through  his  town  on 
our  way  northward,  and  wanted  nothing  from 
him  but  food  and  shelter  for  a  night,  his 
countenance  visibly  cleared,  and  in  a  brisk  tone 
he  gave  a  few  orders  to  one  of  his  attendants, 
who  immediately  departed,  but  soon  returned  with 
an  ample  supply  of  wood  and  water.  Quarters 
were  speedily  found  for  my  men,  and  a  little  later 
came  fresh  provisions  for  myself  and  my  party, 
and  very  soon  the  carriers  were  chattering  and 
laughing  like  old  acquaintances  with  their  more 
primitive  brethren. 

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On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

It  is  a  common  experience  when  travelling 
through  a  pagan  district  to  find,  as  at  Ligri,  that 
the  people  are  at  first  very  suspicious  of  their 
visitor.  Their  experience  of  the  white  man,  indeed, 
has  hitherto  not  been  very  attractive.  Protected 
by  his  rifle,  he  has  climbed  into  their  rocky  fast- 
nesses, which  had  resisted  the  attacks  of  the  Hausa 
and  Fulani  warriors.  He  has  defeated  their 
chosen  braves,  broken  the  hereditary  independence 
of  their  tribe,  commandeered  their  stores,  levied 
an  annual  tribute,  and  placed  in  the  name  of 
civilisation  an  iron  yoke  around  the  necks  of  a 
hitherto  unconquered  people.  They  rarely  see  a 
white  man,  almost  their  only  visitor  being  the 
Resident  on  his  rounds,  urging  and  enforcing  the 
immediate  payment  of  the  tribute ;  and  among 
these  primitive  peoples,  as  among  the  civilised 
nations  of  the  north,  the  tax-gatherer  is  a  person 
whose  absence  is  always  preferable  to  his  company. 
Every  white  man,  therefore,  reminds  them  of  their 
servitude,  and  his  visit  is  usually  a  source  more 
of  discomfort  than  of  pleasure.  It  is  with  con- 
siderable surprise,  therefore,  that  they  learn  that 
it  is  possible  for  a  white  man  to  pass  through  their 
town  seeking  nothing  but  food  and  shelter.  When 
they  have  grasped  the  fact,  however,  their  innate 
sense  of  hospitality  is  touched,  and  as  a  rule  they 
draw  freely  on  their  winter's  stores.  A  stay  of 
more  than  one  night,  however,  in  any  pagan  town 
is  for  obvious  reasons  little  appreciated.  It  is  only 
after  much  toil  and  labour  that  they  are  able  to 
win  from  their  rocky  soil  sufficient  corn  for  the 

134 


Wase  to  Gombe 

winter's  food,  and  the  incursion  of  a  large  party  of 
visitors  naturally  depletes  their  scanty  surplus  to  a 
serious  extent.  While,  therefore,  they  are  prepared 
to  welcome  the  coming  guest  and  give  him  food 
and  shelter  for  the  night,  they  much  prefer  to  speed 
his  departure  on  the  morrow,  and  if  for  any  reason 
departure  is  delayed,  supplies  become  scarcer  and 
scarcer,  a  very  effective  method  of  hinting  that 
one  has  overstayed  one's  welcome. 

We  set  out,  however,  for  Gateri  on  the  following 
morning,  parting  in  quite  a  friendly  manner,  and 
after  again  descending  from  the  rocky  height  we 
traversed    slowly    and    painfully    a    narrow    stony 
valley  which  led  toward  the  Gateri  hills.     Again 
we   climbed   a   steep   ascent   and  found   the   town 
nestling  in  a  broad  and  shallow  hollow  surrounded 
by  the  summit  ridges  of  the  hills.     The  messenger 
whom  I  had  sent  forward  on  the  previous  day  had 
evidently  reported  favourably  on  our  party,  for  the 
king  and   his   chiefs   were   waiting  to   receive  me 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill  and  conduct  me  to  a  suitable 
camping-ground     near     the     springs.      Abundant 
supplies  were  soon  forthcoming,   for  the  town   is 
a  large  and  populous  one  and  the  soil  is  richer 
and  more  productive  than  the  bare  and  rocky  fields 
of  Ligri.      In  the  afternoon  I  climbed  the  highest 
of  the  rocky  hills  which  encircled  the  town,  and 
was  rewarded  for  my  exertion  by  an  extensive  view 
over  all  the  surrounding  country.     To  the  north 
there  lay  the  undulating  plains  of  Bauchi,  to  the 
west  the  wooded  levels  of  the  Kudu  Valley,  with  the 
hills  of  Kanna  and  of  Duguri  in  the  distance.      To 

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On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  east  lay  broken  rocky  country,  dominated  by  the 
distant  Peak  of  Tangale,  while  to  the  south,  across 
a  deep  and  narrow  valley,  there  rose  the  rocky 
heights  of  the  Wurkum  hills,  the  home  of  many 
pagan  tribes  whose  very  names  are  yet  unknown. 
Towards  evening,  as  I  made  inquiries  about  the 
road  to  Bauchi  which  I  now  proposed  to  traverse, 
I  discovered  that  a  distance  of  thirty  miles  lay 
between  Gateri  and  Panguru,  the  nearest  Hausa 
settlement  to  the  north.  Moreover,  after  passing 
the  Gateri  hills  and  the  river  at  their  base,  there 
was  no  water  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  road 
with  the  exception  of  some  tiny  pools,  which  as 
a  rule  had  quite  dried  up  before  the  middle  of  the 
season.  Warned,  therefore,  by  our  unfortunate 
experience  of  the  waterless  march  from  Yelua  to 
Wase,  I  decided  to  strike  our  camp  at  once,  and 
in  the  remaining  hours  of  daylight  move  down  to 
the  banks  of  the  stream  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill, 
rest  there  for  a  few  hours,  and  set  out  for  Panguru 
in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning.  When  the 
carriers  were  called  they  also  saw  the  wisdom  of 
this  course  of  action,  and  briskly  hauled  down  the 
tent,  packed  up  their  various  loads  and  set  off 
down  the  stony  path  to  the  halting-place  at  the 
stream  below.  The  king  of  Gateri  and  his  attend- 
ants accompanied  me  for  some  distance  on  my  way, 
expressing  deep  regret  at  the  necessity  for  my 
departure,  but  at  the  same  time  obviously  much 
relieved  to  find  that  such  a  necessity  had  itself 
arisen  to  call  off  their  visitors  sooner  than   they 

had  expected. 

136 


Wase  to  Gombe 

We  reached  the  stream  at  the  base  of  the  hills 
just  as  darkness  fell,  and  there  we  rested  until 
midnight,  when  we  again  moved  slowly  on  over  the 
undulating  plain.  There  was  no  moon  and  the 
path  was  only  barely  discernible  in  the  starlight. 
As  it  happened,  however,  the  bush  grass  for  some 
considerable  distance  on  either  side  of  the  road  had 
not  yet  been  burned,  so  I  sent  my  interpreter  ahead 
with  a  supply  of  matches  and  instructions  to  set 
the  grass  well  alight  at  intervals  of  every  forty 
or  fifty  yards.  Thus  as  we  passed  along  in  the 
dead  of  night  our  path  was  naturally  illuminated 
by  these  miniature  bush-fires,  which  sprang  up  in 
front  of  us  one  by  one  and  behind  us  united  into 
a  sheet  of  flame.  After  some  time,  however,  we 
entered  a  tract  of  country  where  the  grass  had 
been  already  burnt  and  where  the  path  was  still  at 
times  obstructed  by  occasional  roots  and  boulders. 
I  now  had  my  four  lanterns  lighted  and  distributed 
along  the  column,  and  the  boys  who  carried  them 
had  instructions  to  shout  out  in  a  loud  voice 
whenever  they  found  a  root  or  a  stone  projecting 
above  the  path.  Thus  with  the  headmen  shouting 
their  characteristic  calls  and  the  boys  giving 
timely  warning  of  occasional  obstacles  with  a  loud- 
voiced  "  Duel!  Duel  I  "  ("  Stone  !  Stone  !  "), 
"  Itachi!  Itachir'  ("Stick!  Stick  !"),  and  with 
a  few  reckless  spirits  blowing  lustily  on  their  rams' 
horns  in  the  darkness,  we  moved  carefully  on 
until  four  o'clock,  when  we  stopped  to  rest  until  the 
first  streak  of  dawn  appeared  in  the  eastern  sky. 

We   had  now  accomplished  more  than   half  of 

137 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

our  journey  and  with  the  coming  daylight  the 
carriers  stepped  out  briskly  with  the  intention  of 
reaching  Panguru  before  the  sun  became  hot  and 
oppressive.  By  ten  o'clock  we  had  entered  the 
farmland,  and  soon  the  town  itself  appeared  in  sight. 
With  a  final  effort  the  carriers  hurried  on,  and, 
weary  and  perspiring,  deposited  their  loads  under- 
neath a  shady  tree  in  the  middle  of  the  town  just 
as  the  sun  shone  forth  in  its  full  and  thirsty 
brilliance.  Panguru,  it  appeared,  was  noted  for  its 
ironworks,  and  as  I  wandered  round  the  town  in 
the  evening  my  attention  was  attracted  by  some 
curious  conical  structures  close  by  in  the  middle 
of  the  plain.  On  examination  they  proved  to  be 
the  earthen  furnaces  in  which  the  natives  had  been 
smelting  their  iron  ore,  each  pierced  at  the  base  by 
six  or  eight  holes,  in  many  of  which  their  primitive 
tubular  tuyeres  of  clay  still  remained  inserted. 

The  native  iron  industry  appears  to  be  doomed 
to  the  same  fate  as  the  salt  industry  of  Muri.  The 
importation  of  European  bar-iron  by  the  trading 
stores  and  its  circulation  throughout  the  country 
by  the  native  merchants  has  adversely  affected  the 
native  industry,  and  iron  is  now  smelted  from  the 
local  ores  only  in  those  places  which  are  either 
far  from  the  river  or  unapproached  by  the  main 
trade  routes  throughout  the  Protectorate.  The 
native  process  of  smelting,  indeed,  is  a  long  and 
tedious  one.  First  the  ore,  which  is  mostly  poor  in 
quality,  has  to  be  laboriously  grubbed  out  of  the 
ground  and  broken  up  into  tiny  fragments.  Then 
much  timber  has  to  be  hewn  in  the  neighbouring 

138 


Wase  to  Gombe 

bush  and  set  to  smoulder  in  heaps  under  a  covering 
of  earth  in  order  to  make  the  charcoal  which  is 
necessary  for  smelting  the  ore.  Then  the  ore  and 
the  charcoal  are  thrown  into  the  furnace  in  alternate 
layers,  in  the  proportions  of  two  or  three  of  char- 
coal to  one  of  ore  :  the  prepared  material  in  the 
bottom  of  the  furnace  is  set  alight  and  six  or  eight 
men  sit  round  the  outside,  each  provided  with  a 
native  skin  bellows  and  blowing  into  the  tuyeres 
for  all  he  is  worth.  When  one  set  of  blowers  is 
tired  another  takes  their  place,  for  the  blast  must 
not  cease  for  twenty-four  hours  or  more.  At  the 
end  of  the  requisite  period  the  furnace  is  allowed 
to  cool  and  a  breach  then  made  in  its  side,  through 
which  is  drawn  forth  a  mass  of  slag  with  a  ball 
of  metal  at  its  base.  The  ball  of  iron  thus  pro- 
duced at  the  expense  of  so  much  labour  is  worth 
only  from  three  to  five  shillings,  and  at  such  a  price 
it  is  obviously  impossible  in  most  cases  for  native 
iron  to  compete  with  the  imported  European 
material . 

Our  path  now  led  gradually  upward  from 
Panguru  to  Pali  and  the  central  plains  of  Bauchi. 
About  midway  we  crossed  a  rapid  running  stream, 
one  of  the  headwaters  of  the  Kudu  River,  and  in 
its  vicinity  were  grazing  many  herds  of  humped 
Fulani  cattle.  Each  herd  was  in  charge  of  one 
or  more  wild-looking  Fulani  herdsmen,  dressed  in 
a  minimum  of  clothing,  with  long  and  matted  hair, 
and  armed  with  the  traditional  bow  and  arrows. 
These  bush-Fulani,  as  they  are  called,  are  of  purer 
blood  than  the  Fulani  of  the  towns,  and  the  direct 

139 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

descendants  of  those  early  herdsmen  amongst  whom, 
more  than  a  century  ago,  rose  the  warlike  spirits 
who  conquered  Hausaland  for  "  the  moon  of 
Mahomet  "  and  founded  the  great  empire  of  Sokoto. 
The  bush-Fulani  have  no  fixed  abode  ;  they  wander 
about  with  their  herds  in  patriarchal  style  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  ever  in  search  of 
pastures  new,  pitching  their  camp  in  the  bush 
wherever  they  please  and  living  for  the  most  part 
on  the  produce  of  their  herds,  while  their  surplus 
milk  and  butter  they  sell  in  the  neighbouring  towns 
or  exchange  for  the  produce  of  the  farms.  It  is 
amongst  these  wandering  herdsmen,  who  have 
never  intermarried  with  Hausa  women,  that  the 
purest  Fulani  types  are  now  to  be  found.  For  the 
most  part  they  are  tall  and  spare,  with  well-marked 
aquiline  features  of  an  Arab  type,  copper-coloured 
complexions,  long  straight  hair  and  full  beards. 
The  men  speak  little  Hausa,  are  somewhat  shy 
of  strangers,  and  rarely  enter  the  towns,  devoting 
themselves  entirely  to  the  care  and  control  of  their 
herds,  while  the  women  do  all  the  necessary 
buying  and  selling  in  the  local  markets. 

The  central  plains  of  Bauchi  run  eastward  from 
the  Gongola,  open  grassy  or  thinly  wooded,  and 
extensively  cleared  for  cultivation  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  towns.  They  support  an  abundant 
population,  located  in  numerous  towns  and  villages 
and  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  a  mixed  Hausa 
and  Fulani  stock.  The  walls  of  the  towns  are 
largely  dilapidated  and  disused,  or  in  the  case  of 

recent  Fulani  settlements,  entirely  absent,  the  com- 

140 


Wase  to   Gombe 

pounds  being  merely  siirroiinded  by  a  high  screen 
of  zana  marring.  We  camped  at  Pali  for  the 
aight.  where  the  streams  had  cut  deep  canon 
gorges  into  the  sandstone  of  the  plain,  laying  bare 
in  one  locality*  thin  beds  of  white  clay,  which  is 
dug  by  the  native  women  and  used  for  dusting  their 
cotton  threads  when  spinning.  Next  day  we 
moved  on  over  rhe  hot  and  dusty  plains  by  way  of 
Laiiangale  to  Kirifi  and  Deu.  Kirifi  is  set  at  the 
base  of  some  low,  flat -topped  hills  of  grit  and 
ironstone,  and  at  one  time  was  an  important  centre 
of  the  native  iron  industry.  Deu,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  built  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Gongola, 
on  a  narrow  platform  which  intervenes  bet^^een  the 
river  and  the  base  of  the  sandstone  hills.  The  wall 
of  the  town  is  almost  obliterated  and  the  compounds 
are  fenced  with  corn-stalks.  The  people  are 
Fulani  and  possess  large  herds  of  cattle,  which  tnd 
abundant  food  on  the  swampy  plains  of  the  river. 
The  king  of  the  town  had  gone  to  Bauchi.  but  his 
deputy,  rhe  magaji,  a  weak-eyed,  kindly  old  man 
who  spoke  only  broken  Hausa,  pro\"ided  me  with 
accommodation  in  the  zaiui  of  his  compound  and 
found  quarters  for  the  carriers  close  by.  The 
Gongola  had  now  shrunk  to  a  comparatively  tiny 
river,  and  the  mosquitoes  and  flying  ants  which 
found  shelter  in  the  grassy  swamps  by  day  spread 
over  the  whole  flood  plain  by  night,  comf>elling 
the  natives  to  sit  and  sleep  in  an  atmosphere  of 
smoke.,  and  myself  to  rerrear  a:  ar.  early  horn- 
to  the  shelter  of  my  net. 

We  left  at  dawn  nest  morning,  and  insreai  ot 

141 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

following  the  base  of  the  hills  where  the  path  to 
Golo   runs   when   the   river   is   high,    we   took   the 
shortest    cut    across    the    flood   plain    or    faddama 
of    the    Gongola,    which    becomes    swampy    and 
impassable    during   the    rains.      The    proximity   of 
the  water  made  the  air  feel  damp  and  chilly  and 
the  peculiar  aromatic  odour  of  decaying  vegeta- 
tion   rose   from    the   grassy   faddama.      All    along 
the   right-hand   side   of  the  broad   river-bed  there 
ran   in   the   distance   a   line   of   rounded   and   flat- 
topped  hills,  with  many  towns  and  villages  nestling 
at    their   base    beyond   the    reach   of   the    summer 
floods.      Much  of  the  faddama  was   cultivated  in 
patches  of  guinea-corn,  rice,  millet,  indigo,  cotton, 
and  tobacco,  with  calabash  and  onion  beds  on  the 
river  bank.      On  the  fallow   land  many  herds  of 
cows  were  grazing,  the  property  of  the  neighbouring 
villages,   and   near  the  water-holes   strayed  many 
mares    and    donkeys    with    a    numerous    progeny 
around    them.      At    a    little    distance    from    each 
village   lay   a   group  of   dye-pits,    with   the   dyers 
already  busily  at  work  in  the  early  morning.     We 
stopped  to  rest  at  Keffin-Iya,  where  the  main  road 
from    Bauchi    to    Gombe    and    Bornu    crosses    the 
Gongola,  and  as  I  sat  I  watched  the  traffic  come 
and  go — traders  singly  or  in  groups  panting  under 
their  heavy  loads,  travellers  on  horseback  and  on 
foot  striding  out  briskly  in  the  morning  air,  herds- 
men with  their  droves  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats, 
and    blind    men    and   beggars    moving    slowly   on, 
asking  alms  from  every  passer-by. 

After  breakfast  we  left  for  Golo,  following  the 

142 


Wase  to  Gombe 

right  bank  of  the  Gongola  all  the  way.  The  town 
is  built  on  a  spur  of  the  hills  extending  towards 
the  river  and  over  which  the  broad,  sandy  road 
leads  on  to  Gombe.  The  harlki  is  set  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  at  a  little  distance  from  the  town  and 
close  to  the  market-place,  where  a  giant  kuka-tree, 
with  its  gaunt  and  weirdly-knotted  arms,  throws 
a  scanty  shade  over  the  empty  stalls.  The  magajl 
of  Deu  had  evidently  sent  a  mounted  messenger 
ahead  to  report  my  coming,  for  the  bariki,  such 
as  it  was,  had  been  cleaned  and  swept  before  I 
arrived,  and  the  king's  boy  was  waiting  to  receive 
my  commands.  The  huts  were  old  and  full  of 
white  ants,  which  kept  dropping  mud  and  chewed 
grass  from  the  roof  upon  all  my  belongings.  We 
found,  moreover,  that  the  supply  of  provisions  in 
the  town  was  very  scanty,  on  account  of  the  river 
having  risen  much  higher  than  usual  during  the 
past  season  and  swept  away  all  trace  of  the  guinea- 
corn,  rice  and  millet  which  had  been  sown  in  the 
f  add  am  a. 

At  daybreak  we  left  the  barlkl  for  the  march 
to  Gombe.  There  was  now  little  shade  to  be  had 
on  the  road,  and  it  was  important,  therefore,  that 
we  should  cover  as  much  ground  as  possible  before 
the  air  became  hot  and  stifling.  The  Gongola  here 
flows  in  a  broad,  flat -bottomed  valley,  bounded  on 
either  side  by  the  buttressed  escarpments  of  the 
tabular  hills  which  form  a  continuous  line  on  either 
side  of  the  river.  The  road  followed  the  base  of 
the  escarpment  over  the  spurs  of  the  hills  and  the 
air    was    cold   and    chilly    in    the    shadow    of   the 

143 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

precipice.  Presently,  as  we  rounded  a  projecting 
buttress,  we  came  upon  the  village  of  Zago,  sur- 
rounded by  grassy  farmland  and  shut  in  by  a  semi- 
circle of  hills  behind.  As  we  approached,  the 
bright  rays  of  the  rising  sun  began  to  appear  over 
the  summit  of  the  hills,  touching  with  gold  the 
thatched  roofs  of  the  native  huts,  and  rousing  to 
life  and  action  the  sleeping  village  below.  And 
even  as  we  passed  the  people  began  to  stir  in 
the  town  and  a  blue,  smoky  haze  began  to  rise 
from  the  roofs  of  the  huts,  while  dogs,  fowls,  doves, 
and  rooks  began  with  one  accord  to  salute  the 
smiling  morn.  Three  fantastic  kuka -trees  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill  in  front  seemed  to  stand  sentinel 
over  the  village  below,  while  the  broad  river  to  the 
left,  flowing  placidly  on,  effectively  shut  off  this 
little  paradise  from  the  world  beyond. 

Soon  the  hills  on  the  right  with  their 
chilly  shadows  began  to  recede  inland  from 
our  path,  and  we  entered  a  stretch  of  open 
grassy,  parklike  plain,  crossed  by  many  cattle 
tracks  leading  westward  to  the  river.  In 
the  sunshine  the  air  was  now  pleasantly  warm, 
like  a  summer's  morn  at  home,  and  in  the  bushy 
thickets  which  were  scattered  here  and  there  about 
the  plain  the  birds  were  chirping  and  the  doves 
cooing  in  the  morning  sun,  while  gaily  plumaged 
but  songless  birds  flitted  hither  and  thither  amongst 
the  trees.  In  a  little  while,  however,  the  sun 
began  to  assert  its  power,  the  flies  came  out  to 
trouble    us    again,    the    sandy    road    assumed    its 

characteristic  glare  and  the  thirsty  day  was  on  us  \ 

144 


Wase  to  Gombe 

Again  we  entered  the  bare  and  treeless  plain 
through  which  the  river  flowed,  decorated  here  and 
there  by  green  calabash-fields,  where  the  large  and 
yellow  spheres  rose  weirdly  above  the  prostrate 
stems.  Presently  the  rounded  hills  of  Gombe  came 
in  sight  and  the  carriers  moved  quickly  towards  the 
town  over  the  hot  and  dusty  plain.  We  passed 
the  market-place  outside  the  city  wall,  filed  through 
the  gate  and  traversed  the  main  street  of  the  town. 
The  Residency  and  the  barracks  are  set  on  rising 
ground  beyond  the  northern  wall,  at  the  base  of  a 
flat-topped  hill,  and  at  the  door  of  the  rest-house 
the  carriers  gladly  deposited  their  loads,  and  with 
their  mats  and  bundles  returned  to  the  town  to  seek 
refreshment  and  repose,  and  then  to  dress  gaily 
in  the  evening  and  strut  about  the  market-place 
like  travellers  of  importance  from  the  south. 

Gombe  was  originally  the  seat  of  one  of  the 
Fulani  emirates,  and  the  Emir  of  Gombe  still 
retains  his  palace  in  the  town.  He  has  now,  how- 
ever, to  perform  his  allotted  duties  under  the  eye 
of  the  British  Resident,  who  has  his  headquarters 
outside  the  town.  From  the  summit  of  the  flat- 
topped  hill  behind  the  Residency  an  excellent  view 
can  be  obtained  over  the  broad  valley  of  the 
Gongola,  which  is  now  no  longer,  as  between  Deu 
and  Golo,  enclosed  within  a  narrow  trench-like 
channel  bounded  by  steep  walls  of  rock,  but  which 
flows  from  Gombe  to  Nafada  in  a  shallow  and 
almost  imperceptible  hollow  in  the  open  sandy 
plain,  and  spreads  out  in  the  season  as  a  shallow 
flood  for  miles  on  either  side. 

145  K 


CHAPTER    VI 

NAFADA   TO   TANGALE 

"  Nature  hath  framed  strange  fellows  in  Jier  time." 

A  garrison  town — Stung  by  a  scorpion — The  ruins  of  Burmi — 
Trouble  with  the  carriers — WilUng  helpers — The  Peak  in  the 
distance — A  stronghold  of  paganism — An  importunate  chief — 
Approaching  the  rocks  of  Ture — The  galadima's  smile — A 
solitary  grave — The  base  of  the  Peak — Giant  baboons — The 
effects  of  guinea- worm — The  galadima  acts  as  guide — The  hills 
of  Chongwom — Deadly  enemies — Reception  at  Tangalto — 
Picturesque  country — The  prestige  of  the  white  man. 

From  Gombe  I  sent  on  half  of  my  carriers  and 
baggage  by  the  main  road  to  Nafada,  while  I 
myself  made  a  detour  by  way  of  Darazo  and  the 
margin  of  the  Kerri-Kerri  plateau,  crossing  the 
Gongola  again  at  Baruo,  four  miles  above  Nafada, 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river.  Nafada  is  a  town  of 
similar  size  to  Gombe,  situated  at  the  bend  of  the 
Gongola,  where  the  main  road  to  Bornu  crosses 
the  river.  It  has  sprung  into  importance  of  recent 
years  on  account  of  its  having  been  chosen  ,as 
an  out-station  for  the  native  troops,  being  con- 
veniently situated  for   keeping   in   touch   with  the 

Kerri-Kerri  pagans  to  the  north  and  the  Barbur 

146 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

and  Habe  pagans  to  the  south.  The  fort  and  the 
barracks  are  situated  to  the  west  of  the  town,  and 
the  military  force  consists  of  half  a  company  of 
native  infantry  with  two  British  officers,  a  non- 
commissioned officer,  and  a  doctor.  The  market 
is  a  busy  one,  as  befits  a  garrison  town  ;  and  my 
carriers  drew  out  all  their  arrears  of  pay  to  spend 
on  dress  and  dissipation.  Some  of  them,  indeed, 
elected  to  remain  at  Nafada,  ostensibly  because  they 
were  weary  and  footsore,  and  this  I  allowed  them 
to  do  on  condition  that  they  found  other  men 
willing  to  take  their  place  in  my  party.  It  was 
my  intention  now  to  travel  southward  from  Nafada 
into  the  Habe  country,  and  if  possible  to  enter 
the  hitherto  little  known  and  little  visited  domains 
of  the  Ture  and  Tangale  pagans.  My  purpose 
having  been  explained  to  the  carriers,  the  headmen 
were  instructed  to  have  the  whole  party  at  the 
door  of  the  rest-house  by  dawn,  ready  for  the  first 
day's  march  to  Ashaka. 

The  morning  air  was  cool  and  bracing  as  we 
filed  through  the  sleeping  town  of  Nafada  before 
the  sun  was  up.  We  made  our  exit  by  the  Gujba 
gate,  close  to  which  the  Niger  Company  have  estab- 
lished a  native  trading  store,  where  a  considerable 
business  is  done  in  skins  and  ostrich  feathers. 
•We  found  ourselves  upon  the  river  bank  amidst 
many  herds  of  cows,  grazing  quietly  on  the  short 
green  grass.  Our  path  ran  close  to  the  water- 
side, over  grassy  banks  and  through  bushy  thickets, 
which  are  partially  submerged  when  the  river  is 
high.     We  passed  Gubi,  a  large  Tera  town  with 

147 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

dilapidated  walls,  surrounded  by  extensive  farms, 
and  still  we  followed  the  river  bank  through  pictur- 
esque and  pretty  country,  with  patches  of  high 
and  open  forest  alternating  with  grassy  glades  or 
cultivated  fields.  Occasionally  we  passed  a  tiny 
hamlet  within  the  ruined  walls  of  a  once  larger 
town  which  had  been  sacked  and  pillaged  in  former 
days  by  Fulani  raiders.  Presently  we  reached 
Gongila,  a  small  and  well  walled  Tera  town,  sur- 
rounded on  the  south  and  west  by  a  semicircle  of 
low  rounded  sandstone  hills,  over  whose  escarpment 
the  road  now  led  to  a  broken  plain  above.  As  we 
rested  in  the  bush  after  the  steep  ascent,  my  cook 
was  accidentally  stung  above  the  knee  by  a  scorpion 
in  the  grass.  At  first,  as  he  rode  his  pony,  he 
felt  but  little  pain,  but  before  we  reached  Ashaka 
his  leg  was  much  swollen  and  he  was  suffering 
acutely,  and  all  the  afternoon  he  lay  in  a  semi- 
conscious condition,  moaning  and  groaning  with 
the  excruciating  pain.  Happily,  however,  as 
evening  fell,  he  began  to  recover,  and  next  morning 
he  seemed  to  be  as  well  and  fit  as  ever. 

At  daybreak  we  left  Ashaka  and  took  the  road 
for  Tonga,  and  in  half  an  hour  we  came  to  the 
ruins  of  Burmi,  a  place  which  is  justly  famed  in 
the  recent  history  of  the  Protectorate.  When 
the  last  independent  Emir  of  Sokoto,  or  Sarikin 
Muslimin,  fled  from  his  capital  after  his  defeat  by 
the  British  in  1903,  he  made  his  way  eastward, 
closely  followed  by  a  flying  column,  with  the  in- 
tention of  crossing  the  desert  to  Egypt  and  Mecca. 

When  he  reached  the  Emir  of  Gombe's  dominions, 

148 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

however,  he  was  persuaded  by  the  fanatical  Fulani 
of  the  Gongola  Valley  to  make  a  last  stand  at 
Burmi.  The  British  troops  available  concentrated 
rapidly  from  the  east  and  west  and  south,  and 
besieged  the  town.  When  the  attack  had  been 
well  pressed  home  and  the  issue  was  no  longer 
doubtful,  the  Sarlkin  Muslimin  stood  in  the  market- 
place, surrounded  by  his  ill-starred  advisers,  who 
urged  him  now  again  to  flee.  His  white  horse, 
his  favourite  steed,  was  brought  ready  saddled 
to  the  spot,  but  the  Sarikiti  Muslimin  stood  and 
pondered,  a  deep  frown  darkening  his  brow,  as 
he  made  the  choice  between  duty  and  inclination. 
"  I  cannot  go  I  "  he  said.  "  I  cannot  leave  my 
people  !  "  And  at  that  moment  a  stray  bullet  from 
a  British  rifle  laid  low  his  favourite  steed.  "  See," 
he  said,  "  it  is  the  will  of  Allah  that  I  remain  !  " 
and  seated  himself  under  a  shady  tree  to  await 
the  inevitable  end,  while  his  cowardly  courtiers 
turned  and  fled.  When  the  town  was  taken  and 
the  dead  were  numbered,  the  Sarikin  Muslimin  and 
his  favourite  steed  were  found  together  side  by 
side,  each  done  to  death  by  the  prowess  of  the 
foe.  Burmi  was  sacked  and  the  city  walls  were 
levelled  with  the  ground.  The  site  was  cursed 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land, 
and  the  mandate  went  forth  that  never  again  should 
a  city  rise  in  the  midst  of  those  fertile  plains.  And 
now,  where  once  were  busy  streets,  the  cornfields 
wave  and  ripen,  with  here  and  there  the  drooping 
fragment  of  a  wall  mourning  for  the  departed  glory 

of  the  scene  ! 

149 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

Soon  after  we  came  to  another  ruined  town,  the 
ruins  of  old  Bajoga,  in  a  grove  of  large  and  shady 
trees.  The  old  town  had  been  sacked  and  pillaged 
at  the  same  time  as  Burmi,  but,  unlike  the  latter, 
a  new  and  modern  town,  with  broad  streets  and 
zana  walls,  has  risen  on  the  open  plain  beyond. 
Here  we  stopped  to  rest,  the  king  and  his  people 
being  most  obliging,  and  pressing  me  with  gifts 
of  milk  and  eggs  and  fowls.  Beyond  Bajoga  the 
road  led  over  undulating  sandy  plains,  with  ex- 
tensive stretches  of  farmland  alternating  with 
patches  of  thin  and  prickly  bush.  There  was  little 
shade  or  shelter  by  the  way  and  the  road  was 
hot  and  dusty,  and  as  we  passed  the  tiny  hamlets 
w^hich  were  scattered  over  the  plain  the  carriers 
stopped  to  ask  for  water,  and  mixed  with  it 
a  little  meal  to  make  a  cooling  drink.  WTien  we 
reached  Tongo,  however^  all  our  troubles  were  for- 
gotten, for  it  was  market  day  and  the  stalls  were 
stocked  with  all  the  delicacies  of  the  black  man's 
table.  The  Fulani  king  was  again  most  obliging, 
and  his  people  saluted  politely.  The  memory  of 
Burmi  and  of  the  white  man's  vengeance  is  indeed 
still  fresh  within  the  minds  of  these  peoples  of 
the  plain,  and  even  casual  visitors  are  treated  with 
the  greatest  respect. 

Next  morning  we  breakfasted  at  Dukul,  where 
the  king,  a  feeble  old  man,  repeatedly  inquired 
whether  he  could  serve  me  in  any  possible  manner. 
I  pleased  him  by  requesting  the  services  of  a  guide 
to  Jurara,  where  I  proposed  to  camp  for  the  night, 

and  of  a  messenger  to  go  on  ahead  to  Deba  Habe 

i=;o 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

and  repon  my  intended  arrival  on  the  follovring 
day.  Jurara  proved  to  be  quite  a  small  Fulani 
\illage,  whose  sarlki,  however,  did  all  in  his  power 
to  make  me  comfortable.  We  set  out  again  at 
dawn  with  the  intention  of  reaching  Deba  Habe 
by  midday,  and  soon  we  found  ourselves  approach- 
ing Deba  Fulani.  a  large  cattle-breeding  town,  set 
on  open  grassy  rising  ground,  cleared  of  bush  all 
round.  As  I  passed  quickly  through  the  town  the 
sariki  came  up  and  earnestly  begged  me  to  stop 
for  refreshment.  This,  however,  I  decided  not  to  do,, 
as  it  was  still  quite  early  and  Deba  Habe  was  a 
long  wa}"  off,  and  it  seemed  wiser  to  push  on  farther 
in  the  cool  of  the  morning  before  stopping  for 
breakfast.  As  it  happened,  however,  Deba  Fulani 
was  the  last  of  the  Fulani  settlements  on  the  middle 
Gonsrola.  and  as  soon  as  we  had  left  the  farms 
behind  us  we  entered  the  Habe  or  Tera  country, 
where  the  bush  was  thicker,  the  towns  well  waUed, 
the  farmland  less  extensive,  and  provisions  scarcer. 
The  path  led  over  rapidly  imdulating  coimtr>-,  rough 
and  stony  in  places,  and  through  patches  of  farm- 
land, separated  by  extensive  stretches  of  scrubby 
imdergro^th  and  scanered  trees.  We  passed  Lubo, 
a  small  well  walled  \-illage  set  on  a  low  dome- 
shaped  rise  in  the  midst  of  the  bush,  and  pushed 
on  to  Zembu,  a  similar  town  on  similar  rising 
ground,  where  a  halt  was  called  for  breakfast.  As 
the  carriers  came  up  I  could  see  by  their  sullen 
looks  and  sulky  faces  that  they  had  been  grievously 
disappointed  in  not  being  allowed  to  stop  at  Deba 
Fulani  and  consume  the  sarlki's  proffered  refresh- 

151 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

merits.  A  number  of  them,  I  noticed,  determined 
to  have  their  revenge,  began  to  undo  their  loads 
as  soon  as  they  had  put  them  on  the  ground  and 
retire  with  their  mats  and  bundles  to  the  back- 
ground. I  sent  my  interpreter  to  talk  them  round 
if  possible  and  tell  them  that  Deba  Habe  was  now 
less  than  two  hours  away.  He  returned,  however, 
to  say  that  the  carriers  professed  to  be  very  tired 
and  had  quite  determined  not  to  go  any  farther  that 
day.  This,  however,  was  equivalent  to  striking 
work,  so  I  had  them  all  called  up  in  front  of  me 
and  gave  them  the  choice  of  going  on  with  me 
that  day  to  Deba  Habe  or  of  being  dismissed  on 
the  spot.  About  twenty  of  the  more  turbulent 
spirits,  thinking  that  it  would  inconvenience  me 
greatly  to  be  left  in  the  lurch  in  this  way  in  a 
pagan  country,  and  that  I  would  therefore  ulti- 
mately grant  their  request,  decided  to  take  their 
dismissal,  and  these,  much  to  their  surprise,  I  had 
at  once  drummed  out  of  the  village.  I  then  called 
the  king  and  informed  him  that  as  soon  as  I  had 
breakfasted  I  intended  to  go  on  to  Deba  Habe 
with  the  remaining  carriers,  leave  the  other  twenty 
loads  in  hib  care,  and  get  the  king  of  Deba  Habe 
to  send  for  them  on  the  following  day.  He 
immediately  protested,  however,  that  his  people  and 
the  people  of  Deba  Habe  were  brethren,  that 
though  his  town  looked  small  there  were  many 
people  in  it,  that  he  could  easily  procure  twenty 
men  on  the  instant,  and  that  in  any  case  he  was 
the  humble  slave  of  the  white  man  and  ready  to 
do    whatever    I    wished,      I    thanked   him   for   his 

152 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

kindly  offer  so  amiably  expressed,  and  asked  him 
to  collect  the  twenty  men  at  once  and  bring  them 
to  my  interpreter,  who  would  show  them  what  loads 
they  were  to  carry.  With  frequent  halts  to  rest 
our  unaccustomed  carriers,  we  at  length  reached 
Deba  Habe  and  made  our  way  to  the  rest-house, 
which  is  situated  on  rising  ground  to  the  north- 
west of  the  town.  Very  soon  the  king  rode  up 
to  take  my  commands  and  to  arrange  about  sup- 
plies for  myself  and  the  carriers.  Being  the  chief 
of  the  tribe,  I  informed  him  how  very  obliging  the 
sariki  of  Zembu  had  been,  and  he  dismissed  the 
twenty  men  with  a  word  of  praise.  I  then  asked 
him  to  find  me  a  messenger  who  would  go  to 
Nafada  and  deliver  a  letter  to  the  officer  in  charge, 
asking  him  to  send  down  twenty  new  carriers  to 
Deba  Habe  to  await  my  return  from  the  Tangale 
country.  I  also  intimated  to  the  sariki  that  it 
was  my  intention  to  visit  Ture  and  Tangalto  without 
delay,  and  that  he  would  be  required  to  provide 
guides  to  Panda  on  the  morrow.  All  these  requests 
he  pleasantly  promised  to  perform,  and  with  many 
obeisances  left  me  to  the  calm  enjoyment  of  the 
evening  air.  From  the  rising  ground  on  which 
the  rest-house  was  set,  the  level  summits  of  the 
Bima  hills  were  clearly  discernible  to  the  north- 
west, while  thirty  miles  away  to  the  south  towered 
the  mysterious  Peak  of  Tangale,  which  I  had  seen 
from  the  hills  of  Gateri,  and  to  visit  which  was 
now  the  object  of  my  present  journey. 

Our  path  to  the  Peak  led  first  from  Deba  Habe 
to  Panda,  and  to  accomplish  this  we  left  the  rest- 

153 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

house  at  dawn  next  morning,  and,  skirting  the 
slumbering  town  on  the  left,  struck  southward 
through  the  farmland.  At  first  we  crossed  much 
black  swamp-earth,  hard  and  dry  and  cracked  by 
the  summer's  sun  ;  but  presently  the  road  became 
more  sandy,  and  knobs  and  hummocks  of  sand- 
stone began  to  appear  above  the  surface  of  the 
plain.  We  stopped  to  rest  where  a  stream  had 
cut  its  channel  deep  into  the  sandstones  of  the 
plain,  and  then  moved  on  to  Panda  over  undu- 
lating and  somewhat  broken  country  covered  with 
high  and  open  bush.  The  old  king  of  Panda  met 
me  at  the  beginning  of  the  farms  and  conducted 
me  to  the  rest-camp,  which  lay  to  the  south  of 
the  town  and  in  full  view  of  the  hills  of  Pamu 
and  Awok,  with  the  Peak  in  the  distance  to  the 
right . 

The  country  which  we  were  now  about  to  enter 
was  rocky  and  mountainous,  and  inhabited  by  many 
and  varied  tribes,  which  had  hitherto  been  visited 
only  by  armed  expeditions  from  the  north.  This 
belt  of  mountainous  country  separates  the  central 
plains  of  Bauchi  from  the  valley  of  the  Benue  to 
the  south,  and  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  strong- 
holds of  paganism  still  left  unexplored  within  the 
Protectorate.  The  inaccessible  nature  of  the 
country  has  contributed  much  to  its  isolation  and 
neglect,  and  even  now  only  the  merest  fringe  or 
margin  of  the  rocky  mass  lias  been  entered  and 
brought  under  control.  The  outer  hills  of  Pamu, 
Awok,  Ture,  Chongwom,  Tangalto,  and  the  Peak 
rise  in  more  or  less  isolated  groups  from  the  undu- 

154 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

lating  surface  of  a  broken  plain  and  stand  in  the 
relation  of  foot-hills  to  the  continuous  rocky  mass 
behind.  Each  group  of  hills,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Peak,  is  inhabited  by  a  distinct  tribe  of 
pagans,  and  though  their  strongholds  are  separated 
by  distances  of  only  two  or  three  miles,  it  was 
formerly  the  greatest  joy  of  each  to  make  war 
upon  and  kill  or  capture  its  neighbours. 

The  effective  British  occupation  of  this  pic- 
turesque and  rocky  country  is  primarily  due  to 
the  importunity  of  the  chief  of  Ture.  The  Ture 
tribe  occupies  a  group  of  flat-topped  sandstone  hills 
which  rise  precipitously  from  the  plains  midway 
between  the  strongholds  of  Pamu,  Awok,  Chong- 
wom,  and  Tangalto.  The  tribe  is  a  small  one,  and 
in  the  past  has  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
held  its  own  against  its  more  warlike  neighbours, 
the  people  of  Awok  having  been  of  recent  years 
particularly  active  in  chasing  the  Ture  tribesmen 
whenever  they  descended  to  the  plains  to  culti- 
vate their  farms.  The  present  sariki  of  Ture,  how- 
ever, a  small  and  insignificant-looking  man,  who 
had  once  been  a  slave  in  Hausaland  and  had  there 
picked  up  a  fluent  knowledge  of  the  Hausa  tongue, 
has  been  gifted  with  wisdom  beyond  his  neigh- 
bours. Before  the  British  ever  appeared  at  Deba 
Habe  or  Panda,  the  sarikin  Ture  used  to  slip  past 
the  Awok  hills  by  night  and  make  his  way  stealthily 
to  the  Resident  at  Gombe,  to  whom  he  would 
recount  the  sufferings  of  his  people  and  claim  for 
them  the  protection  of  the  British  arms.  Again 
and  again  he  returned  to  Gombe,  humbly  impor- 

155 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

tuning  the  Resident  to  come  to  his  assistance,  until 
at  last  his  request  was  granted,  and  a  British  ex- 
pedition appeared  amongst  the  hills.  A  battle  was 
fought  at  Awok,  and  the  rocky  fortress  was  stormed 
and  captured,  while  the  neighbouring  tribes  gave 
in  their  submission.  The  Ture  people  went  mad 
with  joy,  for  the  day  of  their  deliverance  had  come 
at  last.  Gladly  they  built  a  hariki  for  their  power- 
ful friends  and  begged  them  to  remain  for  weeks 
to  taste  their  lavish  hospitality.  Before  the  expe- 
dition retired  to  the  north,  the  surrounding  tribes 
were  warned  to  leave  the  Ture  people  unmolested 
and  unassailed,  under  penalty  of  a  similar  punish- 
ment to  that  which  had  been  meted  out  to  Awok. 
And  now,  under  British  protection,  the  Ture  tribes- 
men cultivate  their  farms  in  peace,  while  their 
former  enemies  have  begun  to  understand  that  the 
good  old  times  when  might  was  right  have  all 
but  departed  from  their  land. 

It  was  therefore  with  a  pleasant  feeling  of 
anticipation  that  we  left  our  camp  at  Panda  and 
took  the  road  to  Ture.  The  track  led  down  a 
short  descent  into  a  wide  grassy  valley,  well  cleared 
and  cultivated  by  the  people  of  Panda,  and  then 
up  a  long  and  slow  ascent  to  the  base  of  Pamu 
hill,  surrounded  by  pleasant  parklike  country,  with 
farmland  and  fallow  underneath  large  and  shady 
trees,  and  a  clear  pool  of  water  in  a  patch  of 
thick  bush  by  the  roadside.  We  crossed  the  inter- 
vening plain,  and  as  we  rose  to  the  summit  of  a 
low  ridge  of  sandstone  and  rounded  a  hillock  on 

the  left  we  came  full  into  view  of  the  Awok  hills 

156 


Nafada   to  Tangale 

and  of  the  native  town  perched  on  the  summit  of 
the  cliffs.  Some  of  the  people  were  farming  on 
the  plains  below,  but  they  decamped  on  the  instant 
and  scrambled  up  the  face  of  the  rocks  like 
monkeys.  A  stream  of  excellent  water  ran  at  the 
base  of  the  cliffs,  and  here  we  stopped  for  break- 
fast, while  the  people  sat  in  rows  on  the  edge  of 
the  precipice  above,  keenly  watching  our  every 
movement.  By  and  by  two  of  their  principal  men, 
the  fatari  and  the  galadima,  ventured  down  the 
steep  path,  approached  me  with  much  hesitation, 
knelt  down  in  front  of  me,  and  bowed  to  the 
ground  and  put  dust  on  their  heads  in  token  of 
submission.  They  apologised  humbly  for  the 
absence  of  their  king,  who  was  sick  and  unable 
to  come  down  to  greet  me,  and  when  I  was  ready 
to  set  out  again  they  led  the  way  to  the  outskirts 
of  their  farms  at  the  end  of  the  Awok  ridge. 

The  hills  of  Ture  were  now  in  sight,  four  miles 
to  the  west,  and  towards  them  the  road  led  across 
a  thinly  wooded  plain,  with  occasional  hummocks 
of  sandstone  and  granite.  Many  of  the  people 
were  busy  in  the  fields  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  the 
men  naked  or  wearing  an  apron  of  hide,  and  the 
women  attired  only  in  bunches  of  leaves.  As  I 
approached,  unlike  the  people  of  Awok,  they 
showed  no  sign  of  fear ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
stood  their  ground  and  smiled  and  saluted  me  in 
a  pleased  and  friendly  manner.  Some  of  them  at 
once  ran  off  to  call  the  sariki  and  the  galadima, 
whose  fields  were  at  a  little  distance  from  the  road, 
and  by  the  time   we   had   toiled  half-way  up   the 

157 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

steep  ascent  to  the  upper  plains  the  two  chiefs  had 
joined  us,  and  after  making  their  humble  obeisance 
to  the  white  man,  they  led  the  way  to  the  bariki, 
which  is  pleasantly  situated  at  the  western  base  of 
the  Ture  hills.  Meanwhile  they  had  sent  two  lads 
ahead  to  fetch  their  gowns,  and  when  I  arrived  at 
the  bariki  they  received  me  in  all  the  glory  of  two 
short  and  well-worn  Hausa  rigas,  which  repre- 
sented a  distinct  advance  upon  the  primitive 
costume  in  which  they  had  at  first  appeared.  The 
sariki  was  short  and  wiry,  with  well-marked 
features  and  a  stubby  beard,  while  the  galadima 
was  tall  and  big-boned,  with  ill-defined  features 
and  a  broad  and  pleasant  smile.  His  smile,  indeed, 
did  duty  for  words,  for  he  knew  not  a  syllable  of 
Hausa  ;  and  every  remark  addressed  to  him  was 
answered  only  by  the  unfailing  smile  until  it  had 
been  interpreted  to  him  by  the  sariki.  As  soon 
as  all  the  baggage  had  arrived  the  two  chiefs 
begged  leave  to  return  to  the  town  to  arrange  about 
provisions  for  myself  and  the  carriers. 

The  rest-camp  at  Ture  is  delightfully  situated 
amidst  large  and  shady  trees  on  the  open  sandy 
plain,  well  cleared  for  cultivation,  which  stretches 
westward  towards  Chongwom  and  Tangalto  from 
the  base  of  the  flat-topped  hills  of  Ture.  From 
the  door  of  the  rest-house,  moreover,  an  excellent 
and  extensive  view  can  be  obtained  over  the 
western  plains.  In  the  distance  rise  the  rounded 
backs  of  the  Chongwom  and  Kaltungo  hills,  and 
behind  them  on  the  skyline  the  conical  rocks  of 
Tangalto  and  Tall,   while  the  whole  landscape  is 

i5« 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

dominated  by  the  Peak  to  the  south-west,  whose 
pointed  summit  rises  dim  and  misty  from  a 
flattened  rounded  base.  When  the  sariki  came 
down  from  the  rocks  in  the  evening  with  the  food 
which  his  people  had  been  preparing,  I  informed 
him  that  it  was  my  intention  on  the  morrow  to 
visit  the  Peak  and  climb  at  least  the  lower  slopes 
of  the  famous  landmark,  and  that  I  should  expect 
him  and  the  galadima  to  accompany  me  as  guides. 
I  was  well  aware,  indeed,  of  the  perils  of  attempt- 
ing the  upper  and  more  precipitous  portion  of  the 
Peak,  for  only  a  few  yards  off  to  the  right  was 
a  circle  of  stones  round  a  solitary  grave  at  the 
foot  of  a  shady  tree,  and  a  marble  slab  inscribed 

to  the  memory  of  Captain  W ,  a  gallant  officer 

and  a  fearless  mountaineer,  who  had  lost  his  life 
on  the  Peak  two  years  before  while  attempting 
to  reach  the  summit. 

Next  morning,  therefore,  I  set  out  early  in  the 
company  of  the  sariki  and  the  galadima  over  the 
thinly  wooded  plains  to  the  outer  farms  of  Chong- 
wom  at  the  base  of  the  Peak.  The  plain  was 
floored  by  granitic  rocks,  but  the  lower  part  of 
the  Peak  was  formed  of  a  platform  of  sandstone, 
while  it  appeared  from  fragments  scattered  round 
the  base  that  the  columnar  summit  was  again  a 
pillar  of  trachyte,  and  the  stump  of  an  ancient 
volcano,  like  the  Rocks  of  Wase  and  Banta ji .  From 
the  farms  below  we  climbed  a  steep  path  which 
led  upward  over  thick  beds  of  horizontal  sand- 
stone to  the  rocky  platform  from  which  rose  the 
upper  peak  itself.     We  had  now  reached  a  height 

159 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

of  eight  hundred  feet  above  the  plain,  and  the  path 
to  the  summit,  if  path  there  was,  obviously  led 
up  a  wooded  buttress  which  reached  about  half- 
way up  the  column.  From  the  platform  below 
we  could  see  that  this  wooded  ridge  was  inhabited 
by  a  troop  of  giant  baboons,  who  barked  and 
roared  as  they  sat  on  their  haunches  watching  our 
movements  or  paced  restlessly  backwards  and 
forwards  beneath  the  trees.  According  to  my 
guides,  the  baboons  were  very  savage  creatures, 
and  had  frequently  attacked  the  people  of  Chong- 
wom  as  they  farmed  the  lower  slopes  of  the  Peak ; 
and  this  knowledge,  together  with  the  fact  that 
the  surface  rock  of  the  column  itself  was  very 
crumbly  and  much  decomposed,  led  me  to  decide 
that  discretion  was  the  better  part  of  valour  and 
to  leave  the  first  ascent  of  the  upper  peak  to  some 
more  experienced  mountaineer.  I  explored  instead 
the  southern  shoulder  of  the  platform  on  which 
we  stood,  and  from  its  edge  obtained  a  distant  view 
of  the  Pero  hills,  a  continuous  line  of  jagged  peaks 
which  marked  the  margin  of  the  mountain  mass 
beyond. 

I  returned  to  Ture  in  the  afternoon,  pleased  with 
my  little  excursion  to  the  Peak,  and  as  I  dismissed 
the  sariki  and  the  galadima  I  noticed  that  the 
former  had  begun  to  limp  somewhat  painfully 
along.  Thinking  that  he  had  hurt  his  foot  on 
a  stone  earlier  in  the  day,  I  called  him  back  with 
the  intention  of  dressing  it  for  him,  but  he 
informed  me  that  his  lameness  was  really  due  to 

guinea-worm,  and  that  nothing  much  could  be  done 

1 60 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

until  the  worm  matured,  when  it  was  customary 
to  lance  the  spot  and  cauterise  the  wound.  The 
growth  of  this  disgusting  parasite,  to  whose  attacks 
the  natives  are  particularly  liable  during  the  dry 
season,  is  directly  traceable  to  their  habit  of  drink- 
ing the  dirtiest  water  without  making  the  least 
attempt  to  filter  or  purify  it.  The  germs  of  many 
loathsome  diseases  are  in  this  way  transferred  to 
the  bodies  of  the  natives,  where  they  find  a  suitable 
environment  for  rapid  development.  Europeans, 
however,  are  quite  immune  from  those  diseases 
so  long  as  they  see  to  it  that  their  drinking  water 
is  properly  boiled  and  filtered  before  use.  Even 
the  filthiest  water  can  in  this  way  be  rendered 
perfectly  sweet  and  wholesome,  and  the  necessary 
trouble  and  care  involved  are  amply  repaid  by 
the  accompanying  freedom  from  disease. 

I  had  informed  the  sarlki  in  the  course  of  the 
morning  that  it  was  my  intention  on  the  following 
day  to  visit  the  two  groups  of  hills  of  Chongwom 
and  Tangalto  which  we  could  see  in  the  distance  to 
the  west,  and  if  necessary  to  camp  for  one  night 
at  Tangalto.  In  the  evening,  however,  when  he 
brought  down  the  provisions,  the  sariki  was  lean- 
ing heavily  on  his  staff,  and  it  was  with  much 
regret  that  I  learned  tliat  he  would  be  unable  to 
accompany  me  to  Chongwom.  As  he  was  the  only 
person  in  the  whole  neighbourhood  who  under- 
stood Hausa,  I  had  been  relying  upon  him  to  act 
as  interpreter  to  the  people  of  Chongwom,  who, 
with  their  neighbours  of  Kaltunga,  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  being   somewhat  truculent   people   to   deal 

l6l  L 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

with.  As  I  did  not  care,  therefore,  to  enter  their 
town  without  being  able  to  communicate  with  them, 
I  had  almost  given  up  the  idea  of  proceeding  any 
farther  west,  when  the  sarikl  said  that  the  galadima 
was  quite  ready  to  act  as  guide,  and  that,  although 
he  would  be  unable  to  speak  to  me,  he  would  faith- 
fully carry  out  all  my  instructions,  provided  that 
they  were  first  thoroughly  explained  to  him  by  the 
sarlkL  The  people  of  Chongwom  were  at  this  time 
friendly  with  the  people  of  Ture,  and  the  galadima 
had  evidently  no  hesitation  in  going  amongst  them 
alone.  I  pleased  him  greatly  by  accepting  his 
offer  of  service,  and  the  sarikl  then  carefully  ex- 
plained his  instructions  to  him  again  and  again, 
until  he  declared  that  he  knew  exactly  what  I 
wished  him  to  say  to  the  sarikl  of  Chongwom. 

At  dawn  next  morning  the  sarlkln  Ture  again 
limped  painfully  down  from  the  rocks  and  once 
more  put  the  galadima  through  his  lesson  before 
we  started.  He  informed  me  also  that  the  galadima 
of  Tangalto  was  able  to  speak  a  little  Fulani,  and 
that  I  would  therefore  have  no  difficulty  in  ex- 
plaining things  to  him  through  my  own  interpreter. 
At  length  we  moved  off  over  the  parklike  plains 
towards  the  hills  of  Chongwom,  the  galadima  lead- 
ing the  way,  evidently  greatly  pleased  at  the  trust 
reposed  in  him  and  turning  round  every  now  and 
then  to  grin  at  me  in  his  pleasant  good-natured 
manner.  As  we  approached  the  base  of  the 
Chongwom  hills  the  natives  who  were  at  work  in 
the  fields  ran  off  at  once  to  the  shelter  of  the  town. 

We   crossed   the   open   farmland,   rounded   a   pro- 

162 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

jecting  spur,  and  then  entered  a  narrow  picturesque 

valley    which    led    upwards    amongst    the    hills. 

Presently,  as  we  followed  the  running  stream,  we 

came  upon  the  town  of  Chongwom,  consisting  of 

numerous  groups  of  huts  scattered  here  and  there 

amongst   the   rocks.      I   stopped  for  breakfast   in 

the   middle   of   the   settlement,   and   the   galadima 

at  once  went   off  to   call   the   sarlkl.      In  a   little 

while  he  returned  with  a  morose  and  sulky-looking 

personage,    whom   with   considerable   difficulty   he 

persuaded  to  make  his  obeisance  in  proper  style. 

I   made  signs   to  the  galadima  to   explain   to  the 

sarikl  the  purpose  of  my  coming,  and  a  lengthy 

conversation  thereupon  ensued,  which  appeared  to 

be  more  or  less  satisfactory  to  his  suspicious  mind. 

Breakfast  over,   I   indicated  to  the  galadima  that 

I    was    anxious    to    push    on    to    Tangalto,    and, 

acquiescing  with  a  smile,  he  again   spoke  to  the 

sarikiy    who    immediately    turned    and    moved    on 

ahead . 

The  path  now  led  uphill  underneath  some  large 

and  leafy  trees   until  we  reached  a  narrow   pass 

between   the   summits   of  the   hills,   where,   if  the 

people  of  Chongwom  had  felt  disposed,  a  few,, of 

them    could    easily    have    wreaked    a    summary 

vengeance    upon    our    party.     Unlike    the    eastern 

slope,  the  descent  to  the  west  was  steep  and  rocky, 

and  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  we  had  a  clear  and 

unobstructed   view    of   the   hills   around    Tangalto 

and  of  the  undulating  plains  between.     When  v^^e 

reached  the  foot  of  the  descent,  however,  the  hills 

of  Tangalto  were  no  longer  visible,   being  hidden 

163 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

by  a  low  ridge  of  rising  ground  which  projected 
from  the  middle  of  the   plain.      The   Chongwom 
farms    extended    up    to    the    eastern    brow    of    the 
rising    ground,    but    not    beyond ;     and    as    soon 
as    we     reached    the    limit    of    the     farms,     the 
galadima  and   the   sarikt  stopped   short   and   inti- 
mated   by   signs    that    they    could   go    no    farther. 
It  appeared  that   the   Chongwom   people   and  the 
Tangalto    people,    although    separated    by    a    dis- 
tance   of   only   two    or   three   miles,    were    deadly 
enemies,  and  the  ridge  of  rising  ground  which  we 
had  now  reached  was  the  boundary-line  between 
their    respective    territories ;    and    whenever    the 
members  of  one  tribe  crossed  the  ridge,  even  so 
far  as  to  become  visible  to  the  neighbouring  tribes- 
men,  they  were   in   danger   of  being   chased  and 
killed  or  captured  by  their  foes.     I  therefore  dis- 
missed my  two  guides  with  a   special   word  and 
sign  of  praise  for  my  dusky  friend  the  galadima, 
whose  ugly  honest  face  now  glowed  with  satisfac- 
tion at  the  accomplishment  of  his  task,  and  then, 
accompanied  only  by  my  interpreter  from  Lokoja, 
I  moved  up  to  the  crest  of  the  rising  ground  at 
the  head  of  the  little  party  of  carriers.     At  once 
we    came    into   full    view  of   Tangalto    Hill,    which 
was  now  less  than  two  miles  ahead,  and  as  soon 
as  we  were  observed  we  could  see  that  considerable 
commotion  arose  in  the  town,   which   is  built   in 
terraces  on  the  slopes  of  the  hill.    As  we  advanced, 
however,  the  excitement  seemed  to  die  down,  and 
as   we   entered  the  farms   at   the  base   of  the   hill 

we  saw  a  tall  figure  in  a  short  kilted  riga  hastening 

164 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

out  to  meet  us.     This  proved  to  be  the  galadima, 

who,    after   making    obeisance,    welcomed    me    in 

words  of  broken  Fulani. 

The  Tangale  tribe  is  located  within  six  or  seven 

towns,  scattered  here  and  there  on  the  slopes  of 

the  detached  group  of  hills  which  we  were  now 

approaching.     Of    these    towns    Tangalto    is    the 

largest  and  the  most  important ;    and  on  account 

of  the  prolonged  illness  of  the  sariki,  the  galadima 

of  Tangalto  now  acts  largely  as  the  chief  of  the 

tribe.      The  tribe  as  a  whole   has  the  reputation 

of  being  very  truculent,  but  at  the  same  time  wily 

enough  to  keep  within  the  letter  of  the  law  and 

avoid  any  overt  act  of  insubordination.     The  people 

are  of  a  very  low  type  and  freely  admit  that  human 

flesh  is  their  greatest  delicacy,  while  dog  makes 

a  very  good  second.     Their  dress,  when  they  wear 

any,  is  a  goatskin  apron  or  a  bunch  of  leaves,  and 

their   arms   are    clubs,    casting-spears,    bows,    and 

arrows.    The  galadima,  who  had  once  been  a  Fulani 

slave  and  had  then  acquired  a  few  superior  notions 

about    dress    and    deportment,    is    now    somewhat 

ashamed  of  the  primitive  habits  of  his  people,  and 

does  his  best  to  impress  visitors  with  the  superior 

qualities  of  his  fellow-tribesmen.     It  was  amusing, 

therefore,   when   in  the   course   of   conversation    I 

happened  to  ask  the  galadima  whether  his  people 

smelted  iron  for  themselves,   to   have   him   reply, 

with  a  touch  of  indignation,  that  his  people  were 

Gombe    people    and    not    pagans,    and    that    they 

bought  their  iron  from  the  uncivilised  Habe  tribes 

of  the   northern   plains. 

165 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

The  town  of  Tangalto,  large  and  closely  built 
on  the  slopes  of  the  hill,  looked  quite  picturesque 
as  we  approached,  with  a  black  stump  of  basalt 
rising  above  it  like  a  column  at  the  southern  end 
of  a  short  rounded  ridge  of  lighter  coloured  granite. 
I  camped  at  the  base  of  the  hill  beside  a  stream 
of  running  water,  and  the  people  of  the  town, 
though  somewhat  shy  at  first,  soon  gathered 
courage  and  became  quite  friendly  with  the  carriers, 
while  they  sat  watching  me  in  a  ring  at  a  respect- 
ful distance  round  my  tent,  apparently  much 
amused  at  the  antics  of  the  white  man.  Presently 
supplies  of  corn  and  meal  began  to  arrive  from 
Tangalto  and  the  other  Tangale  towns,  and 
although  the  quantity  which  was  brought  was  much 
greater  than  my  small  party  required,  I  could  not 
refuse  it,  as  the  people  would  have  thought  it  very 
unfriendly  and  most  insulting  of  the  white  man 
not  to  accept  their  gifts  of  food.  According  to 
the  galadima,  his  fellow-tribesmen  were  always  very 
pleased  to  have  a  white  man  visiting  their  country, 
for  then  the  Chongwom  people  did  not  dare  to 
molest  them  when  they  were  at  work  on  their  farms. 
I  had  heard  the  same  remark,  indeed,  from  every 
tribe,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that,  while  these 
peoples  of  the  hills  are  all  mutually  hostile  and 
suspicious  of  each  other,  they  are  all  ready  and 
willing  to  welcome  the  white  man  as  a  superior 
being  whose  presence  dissipates  all  fear  of  a  hostile 
demonstration  on  the  part  of  their  neighbours. 

I    spent    the    afternoon    in    exploring    the    hills 

behind    Tangalto   and    Tall,    from   the    summit    of 

1 66 


Nafada  to  Tangale 

which  I  obtained  an  extensive  view  over  the  plains 
to  the  north  and  west.  I  had  now  reached  the 
most  westerly  group  of  hills,  and  beyond  there 
was  nothing  but  an  uninhabited  plain.  Far  away 
on  the  western  horizon  rose  the  dim  and  misty 
summits  of  the  Gateri  hills,  while  to  the  south 
lay  the  continuous  range  of  jagged  rocks  which 
I  had  seen  from  the  shoulder  of  the  Peak.  Below 
me  to  the  east  there  lay  spread  out  the  broken 
plains  which  I  had  crossed,  with  the  projecting 
rocks  of  Chongwom,  Ture,  and  Awok,  backed  by 
the  cliffs  of  Tula  and  Waja.  The  streams  and 
rivers  could  be  traced  as  lines  of  green  winding 
over  the  parklike,  cultivated  plains.  It  was  a 
picturesque  and  peaceful  scene,  and  yet  the  in- 
habitants of  this  little  paradise  live  in  constant 
terror  of  each  other,  unable  to  enjoy  the  beauties 
of  the  plain  and  safe  only  when  they  remain  upon 
the  summits  of  their  rocks. 

Next  morning  I  bade  goodbye  to  the  galadima 
and  the  terraced  hills  of  Tangale,  and  struck  across 
the  open  plain  to  the  northern  end  of  the  Chongwom 
hills.  I  breakfasted  near  the  town  of  Kaltunga, 
whose  sariki  and  galadima  came  out  to  greet  me. 
I  received  them  coldly,  however,  for  I  had  been 
informed  that  their  town  had  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  Resident.  A  few  weeks  before 
my  visit,  some  of  their  people  had  killed  and  eaten 
a  Hausa  trader  and  his  wife  who  had  wandered  into 
the  town  in  the  hope  of  doing  some  business,  and, 
although  repeatedly  requested  to  do  so,  the  chiefs 

of  Kaltunga  had  up  to  the  present  refused  to  give 

167 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

up  the  murderers  to  justice.  The  town  was  there- 
fore rightly  under  a  cloud  until  the  Resident  had 
time  to  attend  to  the  matter  of  its  punishment,  and 
I  had  accordingly  carefully  avoided  entering  it  or 
accepting  any  gifts  of  food  from  its  inhabitants. 

We  arrived  at  Ture  early  in  the  afternoon  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  day  underneath  the 
shady  trees  of  the  rest-camp.  -We  were  greeted 
cordially  by  our  friends  the  sarlki  and  the  galadima, 
the  former  still  suffering  much  pain  in  his  swollen 
foot  and  the  latter  grinning  and  smiling  as 
pleasantly  as  ever.  In  the  evening,  as  I  sat  ,at 
the  door  of  the  rest-house,  I  watched  for  the  last 
time  the  silver  moon  sinking  slowly  in  the  west 
behind  the  dark  Peak  of  Tangale,  and  I  thought 
of  the  wonderful  prestige  which  the  white  man 
has  acquired  in  these  pagan  lands  and  of  the  sooth- 
ing influence  of  our  British  rule  upon  the  turbulent 
spirits  of  these  savage  tribes.  Before  the  morning 
mists  had  cleared  from  the  base  of  the  Peak  we 
were  well  on  our  way  to  Panda,  and  while  I  rested 
there  I  sent  the  carriers  leisurely  on  to  Deba  Habe, 
and  rode  over  myself  after  the  noonday  sun  had 
lost  its  power. 


i68 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   ANCIENT   KINGDOM   OF   BORNU 

"Here's  a  world  of  pomp  and  state 
Buried  hi  dust,  once  dead  by  fate.^^ 

The  Bima  hills — A  dreary  prospect — An  obliging  sariki — Hostile 
pagans — The  rocks  of  Chibuk — An  alarm  of  fire — The  recent 
history  of  Bornu — On  the  way  to  Chad — Characteristic  scenery — 
Luxurious  travelling — The  Residency  at  Mongonu — Salt-making 
in  the  marshes — The  silent  city  of  Kukawa — The  shores  of 
Chad — A  disappointment — Canoeing  on  the  lake — Mosquitoes 
and  horseflies — Last  view  of  Chad — The  saltbush  or  siwak- 
tree — A  magnificent  sunset — Kukawa  by  moonlight — On  the 
way  to  Gujba — An  impossible  request — Approaching  Kerri 
Kerri. 

The  twenty  carriers  whom  I  had  sent  for  to  Nafada, 

happily  arrived  at  Deba  Habe  on  the  day  of  our 

return,  and  next  morning  we  left  early  for  Gwani, 

accompanied  for  a  short  distance  by  the  king  and 

a  number  of  the  chiefs  of  Deba  Habe.     We  rested 

at  Difa,  a  small  well -walled  pagan  village  in  the 

midst  of  a  clearing  in  the  bush,  and  then  moved 

northward  in  full  view  of  the  western  slope  of  the 

Bima   hills.      Presently    the    path    led    through    a 

patch   of   shady   forest   to   the    right   bank   of   the 

169 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Gongola  and  then  across  the  sandy  river-bed  to 
the  walls  of  Gwani.  The  town  is  built  at  the 
base  of  the  northern  slope  of  the  Bima  hills,  to 
the  summit  of  which  fled  many  of  the  fanatical 
defenders  of  Burmi  after  the  capture  of  their 
stronghold.  In  order  to  hunt  them  down,  Gwani 
for  a  time  was  made  the  military  headquarters  on 
the  Gongola,  with  a  fort,  barracks,  and  parade- 
ground,  now  deserted  in  favour  of  Nafada,  higher 
up  the  river.  I  camped  under  a  shady  tree  close 
to  the  grass -grown  parade-ground  and  the  ruins 
of  the  fort,  and  next  morning  moved  north-east- 
ward along  the  base  of  the  hills  to  Wadi.  The  Bima 
hills,  with  the  three  Tera  towns  of  Gwani,  Wadi, 
and  Gunna,  form  a  detached  portion  of  Bauchi 
province,  known  as  the  Bima  enclave,  and 
administered  from  the  Gombe  district  head- 
quarters, while  ail  the  rest  of  the  country  to  the 
east  of  the  Gongola  and  as  far  south  as  Gasi  is 
included   v/ithin   the    province   of    Bornu. 

Beyond  Wadi  lay  the  broken  plains  of  Barbur, 
backed  in  the  distance  by  the  rocky  escarpment 
of  the  Bura  plateau.  The  Barbur  towns  and 
villages  are  set  for  the  most  part  close  to  the  base 
of  the  escarpment.  All  are  well-walled,  densely 
populated,  and  apparently  prosperous,  and  my  re- 
ception everywhere  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  The 
people,  like  the  Terawa  to  the  west  of  the  Gongola, 
are  quite  a  superior  class  of  pagan,  and  in  former 
days  offered  a  strenuous  resistance  to  the  encroach- 
ment of  the  Fulani  and  Kanuri  of  the  north.     The 

capital,  Gulani,  is  built  in  a  basin-shaped  hollow  in 

170 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

the  midst  of  a  circle  of  hills,  which  rise  from  a 
gently  undulating  plain  deeply  covered  with  black 
swamp-earth.  The  town  is  surrounded  by  a  well- 
built  battlemented  wall  and  a  double  ditch,  with 
log  bridges  at  the  gates,  all  in  an  excellent  state 
of  repair.  The  rest-camp  is  set  on  rising  ground 
to  the  south  of  the  town,  and  from  the  summit  of 
the  western  hills  an  extensive  view  can  be  obtained 
over  the  level  plains  which  stretch  westward  to 
the  Gongola .  The  prospect,  however,  at  this  season 
was  most  depressing.  The  thin  and  scrubby  bush 
had  been  burnt  and  blackened  by  the  forest  fires, 
and  between  the  sombre  stems  the  black  earth 
showed,  without  a  single  touch  of  green.  West- 
ward and  northward  as  far  as  one  could  see  this 
melancholy  plain  extended,  with  only  a  few  low 
and  blackened  hillocks  to  relieve  the  monotony 
of  the  scene,  while  eastward  a  similar  black  and 
gloomy  plain  led  onward  to  the  base  of  the  dark 
escarpment  which  marked  the  limit  of  the  plateau 
beyond. 

From  Gulani  I  decided  to  move  northward  to 
Bilaraba,  halting  for  a  night  if  necessary  at  Dusua, 
which  lay  almost  midway  between  the  two  larger 
towns.  The  path  led  out  of  the  circle  of  hills 
and  then  over  the  irregular  blackened  plain,  with 
the  dark  clay  which  formed  its  floor  cracked  and 
broken  and  hard  to  tread  upon.  Many  of  the 
carriers  were  unprovided  with  their  native  sandals, 
and  by  the  time  we  reached  Dusua  were  limping 
slowly  and  painfully  behind  the  others.     The  old 

sariki  of  Dusua,  a  well  walled  town  on  the  summit 

171 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

of  a  sandstone  ridge,  came  out  to  meet  me,  and 
when  he  saw  the  condition  of  the  carriers,  urged 
me  to  accept  his  hospitality  for  the  night.  I 
pleased  him  by  agreeing  to  do  so,  and  immediately 
he  set  some  of  his  people  to  build  me  a  runfa  and 
others  to  carry  water  and  wood  and  find  provisions 
for  myself  and  the  carriers.  Next  morning  the 
obliging  old  man  brought  out  four  men  to  help 
the  footsore  carriers  with  their  loads,  and  with 
their  assistance  we  moved  off  over  the  irregular 
hummocky  plain,  now  over  a  stony  rise,  now  over 
a  swampy  shallow,  now  through  a  rocky  stream 
cutting  in  the  surface  of  the  plain.  In  time  we 
reached  Bilaraba,  another  well-walled  town,  whence 
we  continued  our  march  eastward  to  Dukshi,  along 
the  base  of  the  precipice  which  formed  the  margin 
of  the  plateau.  On  either  side  of  the  path  there 
rose  lofty  conical  and  flat -topped  hills  of  basalt ; 
and  in  the  afternoon,  while  the  carriers  were  rest- 
ing in  the  town,  I  climbed  the  escarpment  by  a 
rocky  path  and  then  scrambled  up  the  highest  hill 
which  rose  above  the  surface  of  the  plateau.  Un- 
fortunately, the  harmattan,  which  had  been 
threatening  as  a  thin  blue  haze  for  the  last  few 
days,  thickened  rapidly  as  I  climbed,  with  the  result 
that  my  view  from  the  summit  was  much  restricted, 
and  I  could  with  difBculty  distinguish  the  undu- 
lating wooded  plains  which  stretched  northward 
from  the  base  of  the  precipice,  and  the  rocky  and 
apparently  uninhabited  basalt  waste  which  formed 
the  surface  of  the  plateau  to  the  south. 

Our  road  now  lay  eastward  over  the  plateau  to 

172 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

Buratai  and  thence  north-eastward  to  Hong,  at 
first  over  akernations  of  swampland  and  stony- 
ground,  and  then  over  an  extensive  plain,  covered 
with  hard  grey  loam,  which  becomes  an  impassable 
swamp  in  the  rains.  A  thin  harmattan  made  the 
morning  dull  and  misty,  and  as  we  travelled  over 
the  swampy  plain,  with  the  black  soil  cracked  and 
gaping  at  our  feet  and  scorched  and  leafless  wind- 
blown trees  scattered  here  and  there  amongst  the 
burnt  and  blackened  grass,  I  was  impressed  by 
the  bleak  and  desolate  character  of  the  landscape, 
which  in  places  reminded  me  of  a  wind-swept  moor 
at  home,  sparsely  covered  with  scattered  trees. 
Here  and  there  where  the  ground  was  less  swampy 
was  a  patch  of  thick  and  prickly  bush,  and  at 
times  a  clump  of  leafless  kuka-trees,  whose  giant 
stems  and  gnarled  and  knotted  arms  threw  bars  of 
pleasant  shade  across  the  path. 

We  had  now  reached  the  limit  of  the  Barbur 
country,  whence  it  had  been  my  intention  to  strike 
south-eastward  to  Chibuk  through  the  country  of 
the  pagan  Marghi.  As  I  rested  in  the  evening, 
however,  my  interpreter  and  headmen  came  up 
to  inform  me  that  the  sariki  of  a  neighbouring 
village,  who  had  heard  of  my  intention,  had  sent 
a  messenger  to  say  that  the  people  of  Purpurma, 
a  town  which  I  should  have  to  pass  on  my  way, 
had  been  drinking  pito  and  swearing  great  oaths 
to  kill  any  white  man  or  white  man's  messenger 
who  might  come  into  their  vicinity.  Although  this 
was  probably  only  village  gossip,  the  headmen  said 
that  the  carriers,  who  felt  much  afraid  on  account 

173 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

of  our  party  being  quite  unarmed,  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  refuse  to  accompany  me  if  I  per- 
sisted in  my  original  intention.  Accordingly,  as 
I  could  not  myself  say  how  much  truth  there  was 
in  the  rumour,  I  decided  to  make  a  short  detour 
to  the  north  round  the  country  of  these  reputedly 
unfriendly  people,  and  in  the  morning  took  the 
road  to  Ndufa,  a  small  Marghi  village  in  the  midst 
of  a  mass  of  flat -topped  sandstone  hills.  The 
sariki,  being  somewhat  ill-disposed  to  the  white 
man,  ran  off  to  the  bush  upon  my  unexpected 
arrival,  and  his  brother,  who  acted  the  part  of 
host,  was  able  to  provide  only  a  very  scanty  supply 
of  provisions.  I  had  little  difficulty,  therefore,  in 
persuading  the  carriers  to  continue  the  march  until 
we  had  left  the  hills  behind  and  entered  the 
open  parklike  country  of  the  Marghi  of  the  plains. 
This  section  of  the  tribe  had  long  professed 
Mohammedanism,  and  in  the  past  had  been  the 
allies  of  the  Kanuri  of  Bornu.  Their  numerous 
villages  were  large  and  straggling,  each  composed 
of  a  collection  of  scattered  compounds,  with- 
out any  containing  wall  and  surrounded  by  ex- 
tensive stretches  of  farmland.  The  people  were 
everywhere  loyal  and  friendly,  and  when  we 
camped  in  their  midst  abundant  provisions  arrived 
in  the  evening  from  all  the  neighbouring  villages. 
As  we  turned  southward  the  bush  became  thicker 
and  the  road  rougher  and  more  stony,  until  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Korongulum  we  found  ourselves 
upon    a   broken    plain,    decorated    with    projecting 

knobs  and  hummocks  of  granite.     Korongulum  was 

174 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

the  last  of  the  thoroughly  friendly  Marghi  villages, 
and  its  chief  accompanied  me  for  a  considerable 
distance  on  my  way  towards  Chibuk.     We  passed 
through  many  villages,   but   invariably  we   found 
them  semi-deserted  and  occupied  only  by  the  old 
men  and  women,   the  chiefs  and  the  able-bodied 
men  having  decamped  to  the  bush  at  my  approach. 
Presently  the  rocks  of  Chibuk   came   in  sight,   a 
group  of  granite  kopjes,  apparently  composed  from 
base  to  summit  of  huge  rounded  boulders,  amongst 
which,  in  places,  a  few  scrubby  trees  found  a  pre- 
carious footing.     These  rocks  of  Chibuk  had  long 
been  an  impregnable  stronghold,  from  which,  as  a 
base,  the  pagan  Marghi  raided  and  molested  the 
peaceful     dwellers     of     the     plains.      Complaints 
became    so    numerous    and    so    urgent    that    at 
last,   a   year  before   my   visit,   an   expedition    was 
fitted    out    against    them    from    Maidugari.      The 
hostile  natives  refused  all  friendly  overtures  and 
retired    to    caves    and   holes    amongst    the    rocks, 
known  only  to  themselves,  where  they  had  stored 
considerable    quantities   of   com,    and    drew    their 
supplies  of  water  from  springs  amongst  the  hills. 
The  defence  was  finally  broken,  after  several  weeks 
of   arduous   fighting,   by   the   failure   of   the   water 
supplies  in  the  caves  and  the  strict  investment  of 
the   rocks,   which  cut   off  all   external   sources   of 
supply.     The  result  was  at  the  time  complete  sub- 
mission of  all  the  pagan  Marghi  in  the  neighbour- 
hood ;    but  it  would  seem  from  the  unsettled  state 
of  many  of  the  villages  at   the  time   of  my  visit 
that  some  of  the  more  turbulent  spirits  had  escaped 

175 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

from  the  rocks  and  found  refuge  in  the  villages 
around,  whose  foolish  inhabitants  they  were  again 
stirring  up  to  hostility  against  their  British  masters. 

Since  the  reduction  of  this  pagan  stronghold  the 
main  road  from  Yola  to  Maidugari,  which  used  to 
run  along  the  boundary  of  the  Protectorate,  has  been 
diverted  to  pass  through  Chibuk.  A  rest-camp 
has  been  established  at  the  base  of  the  hills  and 
a  new  and  friendly  biilama  put  in  charge  of  the 
native  town.  It  is  the  rule  when  a  white  man 
passes,  for  the  bulama  to  send  round  the  neigh- 
bouring villages  for  contributions  of  corn  and  meal 
for  the  use  of  the  carriers.  The  bulama,  holw- 
ever,  is  a  weak  old  man  who  is  unable  to  exercise 
the  authority  with  which  he  has  been  invested ; 
and  when  I  arrived  at  Chibuk  his  messengers  to 
the  neighbouring  villages  one  and  all  met  with  a 
blank  refusal  to  help  him  with  supplies  of  food. 
The  old  man  did  his  best,  however,  and  provided 
a  scanty  meal  for  the  carriers,  for  the  most  part 
out  of  his  own  private  stores,  while  I  intimated 
to  the  surrounding  villages  that  their  unfriendly 
action  would  be  reported  to  the  Resident  at  the 
first  opportunity. 

In  the  afternoon  I  made  a  circuit  of  the  hills 
and  scrambled  for  some  distance  up  the  side  of 
one  of  the  western  kopjes.  I  was  rewarded  with 
an  extensive  view  over  the  northern  plains  of  Yola, 
which,  though  only  thinly  wooded,  appeared  as 
an  undulating  surface  of  dark  green  foliage  stretch- 
ing westward  and  southward  as  far  as  one  could 

see,   with  barely  a  granite  kopje  to   diversify  the 

176 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

scene,  but  with  the  holy  rock  of  Kobshi  standing 
guard  in  the  distance  over  the  wooded  plains  of 
Marghi.  Towards  evening,  as  I  was  resting  in 
my  hut,  an  alarm  of  fire  was  raised.  It  appeared 
that  some  carrier  had  carelessly  set  alight  the  long 
dry  grass,  which  was  now  to  be  found  only  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  rest-camp,  while  elsewhere  it  had 
been  burnt  black  and  bare  by  the  natives .  A  gentle 
breeze  was  fanning  the  flames,  which  were  moving 
rapidly  towards  my  hut  and  had  already  enveloped 
some  of  the  carriers'  shelters  in  the  distance.  At 
once  my  men  came  running  up,  and  while  some  of 
them  removed  my  baggage  quickly  from  the  hut 
and  placed  it  in  the  middle  of  the  open  space  in 
front,  others  beat  down  and  set  alight  the  long 
grass  which  grew  close  up  behind.  The  greatest 
danger  was  from  flying  sparks  from  the  crackling 
flames  beyond,  but  as  soon  as  one  alighted  on  the 
hut  and  commenced  to  smoulder  there,  it  was 
assailed  by  the  staves  of  the  carriers  and  quickly 
extinguished.  These  prompt  measures  saved  the 
situation,  for  the  flames,  which  rolled  up  crackling 
and  roaring,  suddenly  died  down  within  a  few  yards 
of  the  walls  of  the  hut,  and  left  nothing  but  the 
blackened  stubble-field  to  smoke  and  smoulder  all 
the  night. 

Next  morning  we  turned  our  backs  on  the  rocks 
of  Chibuk  and  their  inhospitable  inhabitants  and 
set  out  at  an  early  hour  for  the  northern  plains. 
For  several  miles  we  passed  through  desolate  and 
uninhabited  country,  but  presently  we  re-entered 
the  land  of  the  friendly   Marghi  who   inhabit   the 

177  M 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

southern  margin  of  the  great  plain  of  Bornu,  which 
stretches  northward  to  Lake  Chad  without  a  single 
rock  or  heap  of  boulders  to  diversify  the  landscape. 
We  camped  at  Gumsuri,  a  large  and  prosperous 
town,  surrounded  by  extensive  farmland  and 
picturesquely  shaded  by  large  and  leafy  trees, 
whence  the  main  road  runs  almost  directly  north- 
ward to  Wupti,  the  first  Kanuri  town,  through  a 
densely  populated  district  studded  with  numerous 
Marghi  villages.  At  one  of  these  it  happened  to 
be  the  market  day,  and  we  passed  or  met  many 
groups  of  natives  hurrying  onward  to  the  village, 
some  on  foot  and  some  on  horseback,  some  carry- 
ing the  produce  of  their  farms,  others  driving 
before  them  oxen  and  donkeys  laden  with  the 
merchandise  of  the  north.  It  is  the  custom  in 
the  more  thickly  populated  parts  of  the  Pro- 
tectorate, pagan  and  Mohammedan  alike,  for  a 
number  of  towns  within  easy  distance  of  each  other 
to  arrange  to  have  a  weekly  market  at  seven  of 
the  more  important  places.  Travelling  traders  are 
thus  enabled  to  attend  a  populous  business  centre 
every  day,  while  each  market  in  succession  is 
attended  by  the  people  of  all  the  other  towns  who 
have  produce  or  merchandise  to  sell. 

From  Wupti  we  moved  northward  to  Dallwa, 
and  thence  to  Maifoni  through  alternations  of 
grassy  parklike  country  and  thin  and  open  bush, 
with  the  fertile  soil  extensively  cleared  and  culti- 
vated in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  villages,  which 
lay  for  the  most  part  on  either  side  of  the  road 

and  hidden  from  curious  eyes  by  a  strip  of  forest. 

178 


The  Ancient  Kingdom   of  Bornu 

Maifoni  is  the  principal  military  station  in  Bornu 
and  the  headquarters  of  the  Senior  Resident  of 
the  province.  It  is  situated  on  a  sandy  rise  over- 
looking the  narrow  valley  of  the  Maidugari  River, 
which  in  the  season  flows  northward  to  lose  itself 
in  a  swamp  to  the  north  of  Gongolan,  but  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  was  represented  only  by  a  string 
of  pools  in  the  sandy  river-bed. 

I  had  now  reached  a  region  made  famous  by 
the  classic  travels  of  Barth,  and  it  was  with  the 
greatest  interest  that  I  looked  forward  to  visiting 
scenes  and  places  which  that  intrepid  explorer  had 
described  so  vividly  as  he  found  them  sixty  years 
ago.  I  had  now  entered  what  in  his  day  was  the 
outlying  province  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Bornu, 
the  province  of  the  Gamerghu,  one  of  the  most 
fertile  regions  of  the  sultanate,  which  the  warlike 
Kanuri  had  snatched  from  its  pagan  owners.  The 
fertile  soil  still  remains,  but  the  great  and  in- 
vincible kingdom  of  Bornu  has  disappeared. 
Under  the  able  leadership  of  the  Sheik  el 
Kanemi,  the  state  had  successfully  repulsed  the 
onslaught  of  the  victorious  Fulani  in  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  emerged  from  the 
fray  the  most  prosperous  and  most  enlightened  of 
the  kingdoms  of  Central  Africa.  But  its  rise  to 
glory  was  followed  by  a  rapid  decline  ;  and  already 
in  the  days  of  Barth,  although  he  knew  it  not,  the 
ancient  kingdom  was  tottering  to  its  fall.  Its  rulers 
had  become  effeminate  and  its  people  had  lost  their 
warlike  spirit,  and  in  1895  its  ancient  capital, 
Kukawa,  fell  an  easy  victim  to  the  notorious  Rabeh 

^79 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

and  his  rebel  hordes.  Rabeh  established  his  capital 
at  Dikwa,  on  the  Shari,  and  assumed  the  title  of 
Sultan  of  Bornu  ;  but  he  in  turn  and  his  son  and 
successor,  Fadl  Ullah,  were  defeated  and  slain  by 
the  French  in  1901,  and  Bornu  was  left  in  a  state 
of  anarchy  and  disorder  until  in  1902  the  British 
assumed  effective  occupation  of  the  whole  region 
to  the  south  of  the  Yo  and  to  the  west  of  thfe 
Yedseram,  to  which  in  the  scramble  for  Africa 
they  had  established  their  claim.  And  now  under 
the  British  flag  a  nominal  Sultan  holds  his  court 
at  Maidugari  under  the  eye  of  the  Resident,  his 
people  are  again  happy  and  contented,  and  Bornu, 
though  it  has  lost  its  prestige,  is  slowly  recovering 
from  the  havoc  and  devastation  which  the  coming 
of  the  barbarian  conquerors  had  spread  broadcast 
throughout  the  land. 

The  native  town  and  the  Government  station 
of  Maifoni  are  situated  somewhere  near,  if  not 
actually  upon,  the  site  of  the  populous  town  of 
Mabani,  described  by  Barth,  all  trace  of  which 
seems  now  to  have  disappeared.  The  whole  district 
is  now,  as  then,  extensively  cultivated  and  thickly 
populated,  many  of  the  scattered  villages  being 
built  of  the  hemispherical  or  beehive  grass  huts 
which  are  peculiar  to  eastern  Bornu,  and  which, 
while  little  ventilated,  are  said  to  offer  great  re- 
sistance to  the  violent  winds  which  in  the  season 
sweep  the  sandy  plains.  Up  to  the  present  the 
British  officials  at  Maifoni  have  lived  in  a  number 
of  huts   of   similar   structure,   but   these   are   now 

being  replaced  by  bungalows,  which  will  introduce 

180 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

the  appearance  at   least  of  European   civilisation 
into  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Bornu. 

At  Maifoni  I  made  arrangements  for  a  rapid 
march  to  Kukawa  and  Lake  Chad,  whose  shores  it 
had  long  been  my  ambition  to  visit.  I  took  with 
me  as  few  carriers  and  as  little  baggage  as  possible, 
in  order  that  I  might  not  be  encumbered  on  the 
way  with  a  numerous  party  of  followers.  A  broad 
and  unmistakable  road,  thoroughly  cleared  of 
scrub  and  roots,  runs  northward  from  Maifoni  to 
Kukawa,  hedged  in,  as  a  rule,  where  it  passes 
through  farmland,  by  a  row  of  quick -growing 
shrubs  on  either  side.  Just  beyond  Maifoni  the 
river  makes  a  sharp  V-shaped  curve  to  the  west, 
and  in  Earth's  day  the  path  to  the  north  led  across 
the  two  arms  of  the  V,  while  now  it  skirts  its  base, 
following  the  left  bank  all  the  way.  From  the 
bend  of  the  river  the  road  leads  through  cleared 
and  cultivated  farmland,  past  the  cleanly  swept 
rectangular  market-place  of  Maidugari  on  the  right, 
with  its  rows  of  stalls  and  shelters,  and  through 
Maidugari  itself,  a  populous  place  which  has  gained 
in  importance  since  it  became  the  residence  of 
the  present  Sultan  of  Bornu.  All  round  the  town 
the  farmland  had  been  cleared  of  the  season's  crops, 
and  the  grass  on  the  fallow  land  had  been  cut  or 
burnt  and  its  place  taken  by  an  abundant  growth 
of  fleshy  sumpachias,  with  bluish-grey  leaves  and 
large  bladder-like  fruits. 

The  rest-camp  at   Gongolan,   eight  miles   from 

Maifoni,    is    set    on    the    roadside    amongst    some 

shady  trees,  but  the  village  itself  lies  some  distance 

i8i 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

off  in  the  bush  to  the  right  and  nearer  the  channel 
of  the  Maidugari  River.  Northward  the  road  led 
over  stretches  of  desiccated  swampland,  cracked 
and  broken  with  the  sun,  alternating  with  smooth 
and  hard  surfaces  of  clay  and  occasional  tracts 
of  loose  sandy  soil.  The  character  of  the  floor 
was  reflected  at  once  in  the  nature  of  the  vegeta- 
tion. The  swampland  was  bare  and  treeless  and 
blackened  with  fire  ;  the  smooth  clayey  surfaces 
supported  an  open  mimosa-bush,  and  the  sandy 
stretches  were  more  densely  wooded  with  a  variety 
of  trees .  The  mimosa  gave  off  a  pleasant  perfume 
in  the  cool  morning  air  ;  the  doves  cooed  and  the 
birds  twittered  in  the  trees  as  the  sun  rose  clear 
and  bright  at  dawn  ;  and  faintly  from  the  distance 
came  familiar  sounds  as  the  villages,  hidden  in  the 
bush  on  either  side,  stirred  into  life  and  action  with 
the  coming  day. 

A¥e  made  a  short  halt  at  some  shallow  wells, 
dug  in  the  sandy  clay  by  the  wayside,  and,  rested 
and  refreshed,  set  out  again  for  Masu.  Almost 
at  once  we  entered  an  extensive  stretch  of  cracked 
and  broken  clay,  over  which  both  men  and  horses 
made  but  slow  and  painful  progress.  These  bare 
and  blackened  surfaces,  termed  "  firkl  "  by  the 
Kanuri,  form  the  floor  of  almost  imperceptible  de- 
pressions in  the  surface  of  the  plain,  elongated 
in  an  east  and  west  direction,  and  frequently  more 
than  a  mile  in  width.  The  black  or  dark-grey  clay, 
which  gapes  with  polygonal  cracks  during  the  dry 
season,  becomes  plastic  and  tenacious  in  the  rains, 

and  the   shallow  depressions  become  then   almost 

182 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

impassable  swamps  which  drain  slowly  eastward 
tx) wards  the  marshes  of  Lake  Chad.  The  clay 
itself,  however,  retains  a  large  amount  of  water, 
and  as  the  floods  recede  at  the  close  of  the  rains 
the  sandy  loam  becomes  an  excellent  and  fertile 
soil,  and  many  of  the  firkis  are  extensively  sown 
with  native  grain  by  the  neighbouring  villagers. 
After  the  harvest  and  the  accompanying  bush-fires, 
however,  the  flrkl  lands,  as  described  by  Barth, 
present  in  themselves  a  most  bleak  and  dismal  ap- 
pearance, although  their  alternation  with  stretches 
of  bush  on  the  road  from  Maidugari  to  Kukawa 
introduces  on  the  whole  a  pleasant  variation 
of  scenery  into  what  would  otherwise  be  a 
monotonous,  uninteresting,  thinly  wooded  plain. 

A  pleasant  breeze  from  the  north-east  tempered 
the  brilliant  rays  of  the  morning  sun  as  we  moved 
northward  over  the  gently  undulating  plain,  over 
shallow  firkis  and  low  rising  ground,  hard  and 
smooth  like  a  beaten  floor  or  covered  with  scattered 
heaps  of  sand,  loose  and  moving  with  the  wind  or 
fixed  by  grassy  growths.  Presently  we  reached 
the  wells  of  Masu,  shallow  pits  in  sandy  clay,  in 
the  bottom  of  which  the  white  and  milky  water 
slowly  gathered.  Several  herdsmen  with  their 
cattle  were  standing  round  the  wells  waiting  to 
water  their  flocks,  a  slow  and  tedious  process  when 
the  water  is  scarce.  Near  the  wells  were  the 
village  and  the  rest-camp  of  Masu,  the  latter  con- 
sisting of  one  large  and  several  smaller  huts, 
enclosed   within  a   prickly  hedge.      This   hedging 

of  the  rest -camps  is  an  admirable  feature  of  the 

183 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

local  administration  of  the  province  of  Bornu.  The 
huts  are  thus  retained  solely  for  the  use  of 
white  men  passing  up  and  down  the  roads,  and 
the  headmen  of  the  several  villages  are  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  cleanliness  and  good  condition 
of  the  camps.  The  establishment  of  these  rest- 
camps  at  distances  of  a  day's  march  along  the 
main  roads  adds  much  to  the  comfort  of  travelling 
within  the  Protectorate,  and  I  could  not  help  con- 
trasting the  ease  and  luxury  with  which  I  was  per- 
forming my  journey  with  the  troubles  and  trials 
which  assailed  the  intrepid  Barth  at  almost  every 
town  he  visited.  Instead  of  humbly  asking  permis- 
sion to  camp  in  the  villages  and  being  assigned 
perhaps  a  filthy  and  evil-smelling  hut,  I  found 
a  clean  and  roomy  house  awaiting  my  arrival,  with 
the  compound  newly  swept  and  garnished  in  my 
honour,  and  the  headman  waiting  at  the  gate  with 
supplies  of  water  and  provisions.  Instead  of  living 
on  little  else  but  native  food,  which  requires  a 
digestive  system  specially  tutored  to  the  task,  I 
had  my  boxes  packed  with  European  delicacies 
with  which  to  vary  the  otherwise  interminable  diet 
of  goats  and  fowls  and  eggs  ;  and  instead  of  sleep- 
ing at  night  on  a  couple  of  boards,  wrapped  in  a 
blanket  in  native  fashion,  I  had  my  comfortable 
canvas  bedstead,  with  mattress,  pillows,  and  quilt, 
and  a  mosquito  net  drawn  around  to  ward  off  the 
unwelcome  visitors  of  the  night.  Truly  times  have 
changed  for  the  better,  at  any  rate  for  the  white 
man,  and  let  us  hope  also  for  his  dusky  brother  ! 

Beyond  Masu  we  crossed  again  the  usual  alterna- 

184 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

tion  of  barren  firkis  and  sandy  rising  ground.  At 
Dubula  our  feet  sank  deep  in  wreaths  of  scorching 
sand  which  the  wind  had  blown  across  our  path, 
and  the  water  from  the  wells,  which  the  carriers 
eagerly  drank,  proved  very  alkaline  and  disagree- 
able to  the  taste.  As  we  approached  Mongonu  we 
crossed  the  desiccated  margin  of  an  extensive  low- 
lying  swampy  tract  which  extended  to  the  right 
towards  Chad,  and  beyond  it  we  could  see  the 
town  itself,  set  on  the  summit  of  a  rise  overlooking 
the  plains  around.  Many  herds  of  cattle  and 
droves  of  donkeys  were  watering  at  the  wells,  and 
the  market-place  outside  the  town  was  beginning 
to  assume  its  characteristic  animated  appearance. 
A  wide  avenue  ran  up  the  middle  of  the  town^ 
deeply  covered  with  loose  yellow  sand,  and  at  the 
farther  end  were  set  the  official  quarters  of  the 
Assistant  Resident,  who  is  usually  stationed  here. 
At  the  time  of  my  visit,  however,  the  Resident 
was  on  leave  and  the  office  was  in  charge  of  a 
native  clerk,  whose  principal  duty  it  was  to  prevent 
the  smuggling  of  untaxed  salt  across  the  border. 

Mongonu,  a  large  and  populous  town,  was 
originally  second  in  importance  to  Kukawa,  the 
ancient  capital  of  the  state  of  Bornu,  which  lies 
about  seventeen  miles  farther  north.  At  the  time 
of  the  sack  of  Kukawa,  however,  it  was  spared  a 
similar  fate,  and  it  is  now  the  largest  and  most 
important  town  within  British  territory  on  the 
southern  shore  of  Chad.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
British  occupation  of  Bornu,  the  Sultan  was  for  a 
time  put  in  residence  at  Mongonu  and  the  present 

185 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Residency  was  originally  built  as  a  palace  for  his 
native  majesty.  It  consists  of  a  fenced  courtyard 
and  an  inner  walled  enclosure,  containing  two 
oriental -looking  and  mud-walled  flat-roofed  build- 
ings, the  upper  stories  of  which  are  approached  by 
outside  staircases.  Much  iron  of  an  inferior  quality 
was  originally  made  at  Mongonu  from  ironstone 
nodules  which  were  dug  out  of  the  black  clay 
around  the  town,  but  the  industry  has  now  for  the 
most  part  decayed. 

I  had  heard  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lake 
Chad  an  inferior  variety  of  salt  was  made  in  times 
of  scarcity  from  the  ash  of  the  grass  which  grew 
in  the  marshes  on  the  borders  of  the  lake,  and  I 
now  made  inquiries  at  Mongonu  as  to  whether  this 
salt  was  being  made  at  the  time  anywhere  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  town.  I  was  told  that  the  salt  was 
made  only  by  the  very  poorest  people  of  the  slave 
class,  and  that  if  I  were  to  go  to  the  village  of 
Musara,  three  or  four  miles  to  the  east,  the  head- 
man there  would  conduct  me  to  the  spot  where 
the  salt -makers  were  now  working.  I  therefore 
secured  a  mounted  guide  and  rode  out  to  Musara 
in  the  afternoon,  whence  the  headman  led  me  still 
farther  eastward  to  where  a  party  of  salt-makers 
were  busy  at  their  labours.  He  informed  me  also 
that  for  purposes  of  salt-making  three  varieties  of 
grass  were  gathered  on  the  marshes,  known  re- 
spectively as  "  pagam''  "  kalasilum,''  and  "  kanldoy 
The  two  latter  grow  only  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
lake,  but  the  first  is  found  all  over  Bornu,  although 

it    is    only    salt-bearing    in    the   neighbourhood    of 

i86 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

Chad.  The  grass  is  burnt  in  heaps  and  the  ash 
put  in  large  conical  wicker  baskets,  which  when 
full  are  set  upright  on  a  wooden  frame.  Water 
is  then  poured  on  top,  a  little  at  a  time,  and  this 
filters  through  the  mass  and  drips  out  below  very 
slowly  as  a  clear  brine.  One  month  is  required 
for  one  man  to  collect  sufficient  ash  to  fill  the 
basket  and  one  week  to  remove  the  salt  completely 
in  solution.  The  resulting  brine,  which  can  be 
evaporated  in  one  night  in  conical  earthen  pots, 
is  sufficient  to  make  two  cones  of  salt  of  the  value 
of  half  a  crown  each.  It  is  obvious,  therefore, 
that  the  industry  can  never  be  a  very  remunera- 
tive one,  and  there  is  little  wonder  that  it  is  now  left 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  domestic  slaves  and  of 
the   poorest  members  of  the  population. 

We  left  Mongonu  before  dawn  for  the  march  to 
Kukawa.  We  missed  our  way  in  the  darkness 
when  we  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and 
stumbled  over  cultivated  fields,  full  of  hyaena 
burrows,  before  rejoining  the  main  road  to  the 
north.  When  morning  broke  we  found  ourselves 
travelling  through  pleasant  parklike  country,  with 
grassy  glades  beneath  large  and  shady  trees,  and 
occasional  clumps  of  sweet-smelling  mimosas.  The 
surface  of  the  road  was  smooth  and  hard,  and 
crossed  at  times  by  thick  wreaths  of  sand.  We 
breakfasted  at  the  wells  of  Kopchi,  forty-five  feet 
deep  in  the  bottom  of  a  swampy  depression,  and 
then  pushed  on  to  Kukawa  over  country  which 
gradually  lost  all  claim  to  beauty.  As  we  neared 
the   town    we    crossed   a    continual    alternation   of 

187 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

black  and  desiccated  swampland  and  stretches  of 
yellow  sand,  the  finer  particles  of  which  rose  in 
the  breeze  like  a  cloud  of  dust,  as  it  was  stirred 
by  the  feet  of  the  carriers.  The  whole  country 
was  bare  and  naked,  having  been  devastated  of 
forest  in  the  palmy  days  of  Kukawa,  and  the  land- 
scape was  dreary  and  monotonous  in  the  extreme, 
and  a  fit  setting  to  the  silent  city  whose  site  on 
rising  ground  ahead  was  marked  by  a  strip  of 
green  on  the  horizon.  The  sun  was  now  blazing 
hot,  and  slowly  we  drew  near  the  whitened  walls 
of  the  phantom  city,  guarded  only  by  the  spirits 
of  the  past.  We  entered  a  broad  and  grass-grown 
street  which  led  northward  to  an  open  space 
amongst  the  ruins,  where,  in  what  was  once  a  busy 
square,  the  rest-camp  now  is  placed.  On  either 
hand  lay  ruined  huts  and  ruined  palaces,  the 
mansions  of  the  nobles  and  the  hovels  of  the  slaves, 
conquered  by  the  same  wild  confusion  and  the 
victims  of  the  same  sad  fate.  Here  and  there  the 
broken  walls  of  a  hut  had  been  carelessly  thatched 
to  afford  some  shelter  from  the  sun  and  rain,  and 
a  solitary  inhabitant  sat  dejectedly  at  the  un- 
screened door,  like  Marius  amidst  the  ruins  of 
Carthage,  mourning  over  the  departed  glory  of  the 
capital. 

Kukawa  or  Kuka  was  so  named  by  its  founder, 
who  pitched  his  tent  and  afterwards  reared  his 
palace  close  to  a  stunted  kuka-tree  which  is  still 
pointed  out  to  the  curious  traveller.  In  course 
of  time  a  closely  built  and  densely  populated  city 
grew  up  around  the  famous  kuka,  and  as  Kukawa 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

grew  in  affluence  and  in  power,  the  Sultan  and  his 
nobles  built  themselves  a  second  city  to  the  east, 
enclosed  within  its  own  containing  wall.  The  two 
cities  were  separated  by  a  space  of  about  half  a 
mile,  which  itself  in  time  became  built  over  and 
thickly  inhabited.  A  broad  thoroughfare,  the 
dendal  or  promenade,  connected  the  two  towns  and 
ran  eastward  from  the  old  palace  in  the  western 
town  to  the  gates  of  the  new  palace  in  the  eastern 
town.  It  was  this  road  which,  at  the  time 
of  Earth's  visit,  was  "  crowded  during  the  whole 
day  by  numbers  of  people  on  horseback  and  on 
foot  :  free  men  and  slaves,  foreigners  as  well  as 
natives,  every  one  in  his  best  attire,  to  pay  his 
respects  to  the  sheikh  or  his  vizier,  to  deliver  an 
errand,  or  to  sue  for  justice  or  employment,  or  a 
present."  '  But  the  conquering  Rabeh  and  his 
savage  hordes  humbled  the  proud  city  to  the  dust, 
broke  down  its  fortifications,  unroofed  its  palaces, 
scattered  its  peoples,  and  in  one  mighty  conflagra- 
tion effaced  the  splendour  and  magnificence  of  the 
ancient  capital  of  Bornu.  After  the  British  occupa- 
tion an  attempt  was  made  to  rebuild  Kukawa  ;  the 
eastern  palace  was  repaired  and  the  sultan  put  in 
residence  in  the  home  of  his  ancestors,  but  the 
attempt  was  unsuccessful.  The  climate  was  found 
to  be  unsuitable  for  Europeans,  the  site  of  the 
recent  disaster  was  held  accursed  by  the  natives, 
and  as  provincial  headquarters  Kukawa  was  found 
to  be  too  far  removed  from  the  centres  of  life  and 
industry  in  modern  Bornu.     The  city  was  therefore 

'  Earth's  "Central  Africa." 
189 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

again  deserted,  the  court  being  removed  for  a  time 
to  Mongonu  and  latterly  to  Maidugari,  on  the 
fertile  southern  plains. 

The  rest-house  had  been  unoccupied  for  several 
months  ;  and  when  I  entered  it  I  was  assailed  by 
swarms  of  the  most  virulent  mosquitoes,  which  had 
taken  shelter  there  from  the  fiercer  heat  of  the 
noonday  sun.  I  at  once  retired  under  my  net  until 
the  heat  abated,  and  then  rode  out  to  view  the 
reliques  of  the  town.  I  found  that  the  rest-camp 
was  situated  within  the  space  which  formerly 
separated  the  western  and  the  eastern  towns  :  the 
dendal,  the  highroad  of  ambition  in  times  gone 
by,  was  now  grass-grown  and  crossed  by  narrow 
footpaths  like  the  farmland  beyond  the  walls  :  the 
mansions  on  either  side  were  heaps  of  ruins,  the 
haunts  by  night  of  jackals  and  hyaenas  :  the  eastern 
palace,  which  had  been  in  part  rebuilt  for  the 
present  sultan,  had  again  fallen  into  disuse  and 
decay  :  in  place  of  the  "  groups  of  native  courtiers 
in  all  the  finery  of  their  dress  and  of  their  richly 
caparisoned  horses,"  a  few  slaves  sat  lazily  about 
the  entrance  to  the  palace,  placed  here  by  the  sultan 
to  guard  the  tombs  of  his  ancestors  :  only  the 
fine  caoutchouc-tree  "  in  front  of  the  house  of  Ali 
Ladan,  on  the  south  side,"  still  flourished  as  of 
yore,  rejoicing  as  it  were  over  the  discomfiture  of 
the  puny  beings  who  for  a  time  had  encompassed 
it  with  lofty  walls  and  sheltered  beneath  its  shade. 

I  retraced  my  steps  along  the  dendal  and  entered 
the  western  town,  where  a  similar  scene  of  desola- 
tion  met  my  view.      The  crowded  dwellings  and 

190 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

the  narrow  winding  lanes  of  old  were  buried  now 

in  a  mass  of  grass -grown  ruins.     Some  dilapidated 

walls,    thicker    and    more    pretentious    than    their 

neighbours,  marked  the  site  of  the  western  palace, 

and  the  stunted  kuka,  with  its  gnarled  and  knotted 

boughs,  seemed  to  twist  its  features  into  an  evil 

smile  as  it  watched  the  ruined  walls  slowly  sinking 

into   dust.      I    passed   through   the   breach   in   the 

city  wall  which  once  had  been  the  western  gate 

and  visited  the  spot,  now  quiet  and  desolate,  where 

the  weekly  fair  was  held.     From  twelve  to  fifteen 

thousand  people  used  to  gather  here  to  buy  and 

sell  and  barter  with  their  fellows,  and  now  their 

place  is  taken  by  the  solitary  traveller  who  stops 

to  rest  his  weary  limbs  on  the  scene  of  departed 

glory  or  by  the  wandering  herdsman  who  drives 

his  cattle  slowly  onward  to  water  at  the  wells.     I 

turned  and  rode  back  to  my  camp  between   the 

ruined    cities,    oppressed    by    a    dreary    sense    of 

desolation  and  despair,  and  by  the  thought  that,  but 

for   "  man's   inhumanity   to   man,"   those   deserted 

streets  would  still  be  teeming  with  the  varied  life  of 

a  busy  city,  and  those  ruined  wall^  and  grass-grown 

compounds    would    still    resound    with    the   merry 

voices    of    children,    the    cheerful    singing    of    the 

women  at  the  mill,  or  the  noisy  hum  of  conversation 

after  the  duties  of  the  day  were  done. 

I  decided  to  move  northward  on  the  morrow  to 

Bre,  a  small  farming  and  cattle-rearing  village  five 

miles  distant  from  Kukawa.      The  marches  from 

Maidugari  had  been  long  and  weary,  and  a  short 

and  easy  day  would  therefore  be  much  appreciated 

191 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

by  the  carriers.     We  left  the  silent  city  in  the  cool 

morning  air  and  travelled  first  over  an  extensive 

stretch  of  bare  and  broken  swampland.     As  the 

soil   became   more   sandy,   we   entered   a   tract   of 

scattered  mimosa-bush  which  presently  gave  place 

to    a    patch    of    cleared    and    cultivated    farmland 

around  a  wayside  hamlet.     We  found  the  village 

of     Bre     situated     amongst     low     and     rounded 

hummocks  of  loose  yellow  sand,  covered  with  grass 

and    scattered    trees    and    extensively    cleared    for 

cultivation  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  compounds. 

A  runfa  of  mats  was  rapidly  erected  for  my  use  near 

the  village  well,  which  had  been  dug  fifty  feet  deep 

through  the  yellow  sand  to  the  clay  below.     All 

morning  a  thick  harmattan  had  obscured  the  view, 

but  by  midday  it  had  cleared  to  a  thin  blue  haze. 

Away  to  the  east  stretched  the  flat  and  sandy  plains 

which  beckoned  us  onward  to  Lake  Chad,  and  as 

I   sat  in  the  evening  at  the  door  of  my  runfa,    I 

thought  of  all   the  weary  marches   we  had  made 

to  reach  this  goal,  and  I  could  not  help  but  wonder 

whether,   after  all,   the   sight   of  the   famous   lake 

would  prove  sufficient  recompense  for  all  we  had 

endured. 

We   set   out   at   dawn   for   the   shores   of   Chad, 

each  carrier  with  a  little  store  of  meal,  for  it  was 

our  intention  to  camp  for  a  night  on  the  margin 

of  the  lake.       We  entered  the  open  sandy  plain, 

covered   with   short   grass   and   scattered   trees   in 

the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  village,   and 

beyond  the  farms,  with  long  tufty  grass  and  a  thick 

undergrowth  of  saltbush  and  mimosa.      Presently 

192 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

we  reached  a  broad  belt  of  ancient  dunes,  and  as 
we  crossed  the  gently  undulating  thinly,  wooded 
surface,  the  carriers'  feet  sank  deep  in  the  loose 
blown  sand  and  made  our  progress  slow  and 
difficult.  We  struggled  on,  however,  until  the  path 
became  firmer  under  foot  and  the  soil  darker  and 
more  earthy.  Clumps  of  saltbush  became  more 
numerous  and  heaps  of  refuse  frequent  by  the 
roadside.  We  had  now  entered  the  country  of  the 
salt-workers,  and  my  guide  informed  me  that  the 
village  at  which  we  were  to  rest  was  now  close 
at  hand.  When  we  reached  it,  however,  we  found 
it  quite  deserted  and  the  well  dirty  and  almost  dry ; 
and  a  passing  goatherd  informed  us  that  the 
villagers,  having  used  up  all  the  saltbush  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood,  had  recently  moved  on 
to  another  locality.  This  was  disappointing,  as  the 
carriers  had  calculated  on  refilling  their  water- 
bottles  at  the  well.  There  was  nothing  for  it,  how- 
ever, but  to  push  on  ahead  to  Chad,  in  the  hope 
of  reaching  it  before  the  heat  became  oppressive. 
Again  we  entered  loose  sandy  country  with  scrubby 
trees  scattered  singly  or  in  clumps  over  the  open 
plain,  and  as  we  moved  eastward  low  fan-palms 
began  to  appear,  but  not  in  any  great  abund- 
ance. Elephant  tracks  crossed  our  path,  marked 
by  lines  of  broken  palms  and  trees.  Presently  we 
entered  another  belt  of  plain  covered  with  dark 
earthy  sand,  very  loose  and  full  of  shells,  where 
the  palms  and  trees  had  disappeared  and  given 
place  to  giant  sumpachias  of  three  or  four  years' 

growth,  whose  blue  grey  foliage  and  bladder-like 

193  N 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

fruits  introduced  a  striking  change  into  the  char- 
acter of  the  scenery.  Soon  we  left  the  sumpachia 
belt  and  the  dark  shelly  sand  and  entered  an 
open  level  grassy  plain  without  a  single  tree, 
bounded  in  places  on  the  horizon  by  level  banks 
of  reeds  and  shrub  which  marked  the  beginning 
of  the  marshes  of  Chad.  For  half  an  hour  we 
marched  across  the  open  plain,  until  we  reached  a 
detached  clump  of  reeds  and  rushes  with  stagnant 
water  at  their  roots  ;  and  a  little  farther  on  our 
road  was  barred  and  our  view  was  limited  by  a 
continuous  belt  of  similar  high  and  swampy  growths 
which  separated  the  grassy  plains  from  whatever 
lay  beyond. 

So  this  was  Chad,  the  object  of  my  long  anticipa- 
tion !  And  all  there  was  to  show  for  it  was  a 
little  brown  and  stagnant  water  amongst  the  reeds 
and  rushes.  The  open  lake,  if  lake  there  was,  was 
securely  hidden  from  my  view.  I  turned  away  with 
a  sense  of  disappointment  and  thought  of  how 
Barth,  in  very  similar  circumstances,  had  "  strained 
his  eyes  in  vain  to  discover  the  glimmering  of  an 
open  water  in  the  distance,  and  at  length  retraced 
his  steps,  consoling  himself  with  the  thought  that 
he  had  at  least  seen  some  slight  indication  of  the 
presence  of  the  watery  element."  I  thought  of 
how,  in  order  to  reach  the  open  water,  he  had 
afterwards  ridden  through  the  swamp  and  reeds, 
often  up  to  his  knees  in  water,  and  I  was  about 
to  mount  my  horse  to  make  the  same  attempt,  when 
at  a  little  distance  I  perceived  some  Budumas 
emerging  from  the  rushes.     The  lake-dwellers  had 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

evidently  come  to  the  western  shore  to  gather  reeds 
to  thatch  their  huts  and  repair  their  canoes,  and 
luckily,  amongst  my  troop  there  was  a  man  from 
Bre  who  said  he  knew  their  language.  I  at  once 
despatched  him  to  call  them  forward  and,  contrary 
to  their  custom  in  the  days  of  Barth,  they 
approached  without  the  least  sign  of  fear  or  hesita- 
tion. The  Budumas,  indeed,  of  recent  years  have 
become  so  much  accustomed  to  the  presence  of 
European  explorers  on  the  lake  that,  when  I  pre- 
ferred my  request  that  they  should  take  me  out 
upon  the  waters  of  Chad,  they  readily  agreed  and 
beckoned  me  towards  the  spot  where  their  canoes 
were  moored  amongst  the  reeds.  Some  of  my 
men  ran  on  ahead  to  pull  the  canoes  as  near  the 
shore  as  possible,  and  to  beat  down  the  reeds  to 
make  a  path  for  me  through  the  swamp.  My 
interpreter  then  carried  me  on  his  back  through 
the  shallow  water  and  deposited  me  safely  on  the 
surface  of  the  canoe,  which  the  Budumas  at  once 
pushed  off  into  deeper  water. 

The  canoes  of  the  Budumas  are  now  made  in  a 
different  style  from  that  which  was  followed  in  the 
days  of  Barth.  According  to  him  "  they  had  a 
very  low  waist,  but  rather  a  high  and  pointed  prow, 
and  were  made  of  the  narrow  boards  of  the  fogo- 
tree,  fastened  together  with  ropes  from  the  dum- 
palm,  the  holes  being  stopped  with  bast."  Nowa- 
days, however,  the  canoes  are  made  of  bundles  of 
reeds,  tightly  bound  together  to  form  a  thick 
mattress -like  structure,  whose  upper  surface  is 
flat  and  only  a  little  way  above  the  water,  while 

195 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  under  surface  is  gently  rounded  and  the  ends 
sharply  pointed,  with  the  prow  produced  into  a 
curved  and  ornamented  horn.  The  canoe  was  very 
filthy  and  in  the  stern  there  was  a  heap  of 
putrefying  fish  remains,  evidently  the  accumulation 
of  weeks. 

To  our  sensitive  nostrils,  accustomed  to  the  pure 
dry  air  of  the  open  sandy  plains,  the  atmosphere 
on  the  shores  of  Chad  smelt  foul  and  stagnant ; 
but  on  the  lake  itself  the  odour  of  decaying  vegeta- 
tion was  quite  oppressive,  and  a  greenish  yellow 
scum  covered  portions  of  the  water  and  surrounded 
the  stems  of  the  reeds  and  the  water-lilies.  The 
water  was  shallow  and  not  more  than  three  feet 
deep,  and  the  bottom  was  covered  with  thick  brown 
mud  full  of  roots  and  leaves,  while  many  clumps 
of  reeds  and  rushes  and  maria-bush  projected  from 
the  surface  of  the  water  and  sadly  obstructed  a 
distant  view.  Now  and  then  the  Budumas  pulled 
up  the  bulbous  root  of  a  reed  or  lily,  which  they 
devoured  with  relish,  but  I  could  not  persuade 
myself  to  sample  the  delicacy.  They  informed  me 
also  that  during  the  past  month  the  water  of  the 
lake  had  fallen  greatly,  and  that  in  the  season, 
when  the  water  is  high,  the  grass  and  reeds  are 
completely  covered  and  sometimes  even  the  maria- 
bush  is  broken  down.  From  the  western  shore  con- 
tinuous water  can  then  be  seen  stretching  away  to 
the  east  as  far  as  one  can  see,  whereas  at  present 
the  really  open  water  was  in  the  middle  of  the 
lake,  far  away  from  the  western  shore.  My  people 
told  me  also  that  the  water  at  the  margin  of  the 

196 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

lake  amongst  the  reeds  was  faintly  salt  and  the 

water  where  we  went  in  the  canoes  still  less   so, 

while  the  Budumas  informed  me  that  all  the  water 

of  the  lake  at  this  season  was  very  slightly  saline. 

I  could  not  taste  any  salt  in  the  water  myself  after 

it  had  been  boiled  and  filtered  ;    but  in  the  detection 

of  small  quantities  of  salt  or  alkali  in  water  I  am 

inclined  to  trust  a  black  man's  palate  much  more 

readily  than   my   own. 

After  sailing  about  for  an  hour  on  the  waters  of 

Chad  in  the  peculiar  craft  of  the  lake-dwellers,   I 

had  the  canoe  drawn  in  again  amongst  the  reeds, 

and  reached  the  shore  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  by 

which  I  had  made  my  entrance  to  the  lake .    The  sun 

was  now  at  its  hottest,  and  in  the  absence  of  shady 

trees  the  carriers  were  sheltering  themselves  under 

cloths  and  mats.      I   had  my  boxes  piled  in  tiers 

and  an  awning  made  with  a  canvas   sheet,   but   I 

had  no  sooner  seated  myself  in  the  shade  than  I 

was  attacked  by  hordes  of  mosquitoes  and  other 

insects,  which  on  the   shores  of   Chad  apparently 

do  not  wait  for  darkness   to   deliver  their  attack. 

I  observed  that  the  carriers  were  also  struggling 

with  the  same  desperate  foes,  while  the  horses  were 

literally  dripping  with  blood  from  the  wounds  and 

bites  of  gigantic  cattle-flies  with  which  they  were 

assailed.     I  at  once  ordered  the  horse-boys  to  light 

smoky  fires  round  the  horses  in  order  to  protect 

them  somewhat  from  the  vicious  insects,  and  then 

sent  off  my  guide  and  interpreter  to   look  for   a 

more  suitable  camping-ground  than  the  open  plain 

on  the  margin  of  the  lake  was  proving  itself  to  be. 

197 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Presently  they  returned  to  say  that  they  had  dis- 
covered a  small  cattle  settlement  about  three  miles 
off  amongst  the  trees  on  the  outer  margin  of  the 
fringe  of  dunes  which  bounded  the  western  plains, 
and  this  place  they  recommended  as  a  suitable  spot 
on  which  to  pass  the  night.  The  carriers  hailed 
the  suggestion  with  delight,  on  the  principle  that 
any  place  was  better  than  the  margin  of  the  lake. 
The  horses,  as  soon  as  they  were  loosed,  pranced 
and  reared,  half  maddened  by  the  flies,  and  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  they  could  be  kept  from 
careering  madly  across  the  plains  like  the  wild 
antelopes  which  we  saw  in  the  distance.  We  made 
a  bee-line  westward  across  the  level  plain  to  the 
wooded  rising  ground  which  was  our  goal,  and  as 
we  went  we  crossed  the  same  successive  belts  of 
vegetation  which  marked  our  outward  journey. 
First  came  the  grassy  treeless  plain,  with  a  thin 
coating  of  vegetable  mould  on  top  of  yellow  sand ; 
then  the  giant  sumpachias  growing  profusely  on 
a  loose  black  shelly  sandy  soil ;  then,  on  harder 
ground,  the  mixed  sumpachia-bush,  leading  on  to 
typical  thin  and  open  bush  on  the  sandy  dunes 
themselves. 

It  was  darkening  as  we  reached  the  settlement 
amongst  the  trees,  and  the  herdsmen  were  busy 
penning  their  cattle  for  the  night,  and  stirring  up 
their  smouldering  fires.  There  were  fewer  horse- 
flies, but  as  darkness  fell  the  mosquitoes  again 
returned  to  the  attack,  reinforced  by  hungry 
myriads,  and  after  I  had  dined  I  lost  no  time  in 

seeking  refuge  underneath  my  net.     The  day  had 

198 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

been  an  eventful  one,  and  it  was  with  a  certain 
feeling"  of  satisfaction  that  I  reflected  that  I  had 
at  last  realised  a  cherished  dream,  and  on  that  day 
actually  sailed  upon  the  waters  of  Lake  Chad. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  the  belt  of  reeds  and 
maria-bush,  at  which  I  found  my  progress  eastward 
completely  barred  by  swamp,  represents  the  margin 
of  the  more  permanent  dry-season  level  of  the 
lake.  At  this  point,  within  a  distance  of  less  than 
fifty  yards  the  level  grassy  plain  to  the  west  is 
replaced  by  open  water  at  least  three  feet  deep. 
Moreover,  in  the  bottom  of  the  lake  there  is  a 
thick  coating  of  black  and  slimy  mud,  while  on 
the  plain  outside  the  reeds,  where  I  camped  for 
a  few  hours,  only  a  very  thin  surface  layer  is 
blackened  with  vegetable  mould,  while  underneath 
there  is  nothing  but  yellow  sand,  mixed  in  places 
with  clean  grey  clay.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that 
the  open  grassy  surface  outside  the  reeds  repre- 
sents the  flood  plain  of  Chad  when  the  lake  is 
full,  while  it  is  only  once  in  every  five  or  seven 
years,  after  exceptional  rainfall,  that  the  water 
covers  the  second  belt  of  sumpachias  and  reaches 
the  margin  of  the  bush  beyond. 

In  the  morning  we  set  out  again  for  Bre,  over 

the     sandy    dunes,     through    open    and    parklike 

country,  covered  with  low  grass  and  scattered  trees 

and  clumps  of  saltbush  and  mimosa.     For  a  time 

the  path  followed  the  summit  of  the  outer  line  of 

dunes  and  ran  parallel  with  the  margin  of  the  lake. 

Presently,  however,  it  turned  off  westward,  and  I 

stopped  for  a  moment  to  gaze  for  the  last  time  upon 

199 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  plains  of  Chad,  as  the  sun  rose  bright  p.nd 
brilliant  over  the  bank  of  cloud  which  lined  the 
eastern  horizon.  I  thought  of  Earth's  description 
of  sunrise  on  the  lake  :  "  It  was  a  beautiful 
morning,  and  I  was  delighted  with  the  scene 
around.  Clear  and  unbroken  were  the  lines  of  the 
horizon,  the  swampy  plain  extending  on  our  right 
towards  the  lake,  and  blending  with  it,  so  as  to 
allow  the  mind  that  delights  in  wandering  over 
distant  regions  a  boundless  expanse  to  rove 
in  .  .  ,  while  the  sun  rose  over  the  patches  of 
water  which  spread  over  the  grassy  plain."  But 
at  this  season  there  were  no  pools  of  water  to  be 
seen  upon  the  open  plain,  nor  were  the  waters 
of  the  lake  visible  in  the  distance ;  there  was 
nothing  but  the  grassy  treeless  plain,  bounded  by 
a  brown  bank  of  maria-bush  on  the  eastern 
horizon  ;  and  as  that  had  been  my  first,  so  also 
it  was  my  last,  impression  of  the  famous  lake  I 

Our  path  now  led  over  the  undulating  surface 
of  the  ancient  dunes,  crossed  and  recrossed  by  the 
tracks  of  elephants  as  they  came  and  went  between 
their  browsing-ground  and  the  swampy  margin  of 
the  lake.  Clumps  of  saltbush  or  siwak-tree  (Sal- 
vadora  perslca)  became  more  numerous,  and 
presently  we  left  the  main  road  to  visit  a 
village  of  the  salt -workers  which  was  close  at  hand. 
These  people  have  no  fixed  abode,  but  move  their 
village  from  place  to  place,  as  the  supply  of  salt- 
bush  within  a  convenient  radius  diminishes  by 
constant  collection.  The  salt  prepared  from  the 
siwak-tree  is  much  superior  m  quality  to  that  pre- 

200 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

pared  by  the  slaves  of  Mongonu  and  Musara  from 
the  grass  of  the  Chad  marshes,  and  its  manufac- 
ture is  quite  an  honourable  occupation .  The  young 
twigs  and  leaves  of  the  siwak-tree  are  collected 
and  burnt  in  the  bush  and  the  ash  carried  back 
to  the  village,  where  the  filtering  and  boiling  down 
are  carried  out  in  a  very  similar  manner  to  that 
already  described.  The  temporary  village  of  the 
salt-workers  is  usually  well  stockaded  for  protection 
against  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  and  a  well  is 
dug  in  the  middle  of  the  enclosure  to  provide  a 
certain  supply  of  water  for  the  villagers. 

The  track  soon  left  the  belt  of  dunes  and  led 
across  the  open  sandy  plains  to  Bre.  The  sun 
was  hot  and  the  sand  was  scorching  the  feet  of 
the  carriers,  so  I  stopped  to  rest  at  the  village  well. 
The  wind  was  strong,  but  it  failed  to  cool  the 
air  and  served  only  to  blow  the  sand  vigorously 
about,  while  even  the  matting  of  my  runfa  was 
penetrated  by  fine  gritty  particles  which  filled  the 
air  and  settled  everywhere  like  a  cloud  of  dust. 
In  the  afternoon  we  moved  on  to  Kukawa,  and  I 
camped  again  in  the  rest-house  between  the  silent 
cities.  The  wind  had  fallen  and  the  air  was  clear, 
and,  as  if  Nature  wished  to  ofi^er  some  recompense 
for  the  want  of  life  around,  the  sunset  was  the 
finest  I  had  seen  for  long.  From  the  door  of  the 
rest-house  I  had  a  clear  and  unobstructed  view 
of  the  western  sky.  The  golden  rays  of  the  setting 
sun  lit  up  with  reddish  light  the  fleecy  wispy 
clouds  which  pointed  towards  the  west.  Deeper 
and    redder    still    they    glowed    as    the    sun    sank 

20I 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

like  a  burnished  copper  ball  behind  a  red  and 
gleaming  bank  of  cloud  which  lay  on  the  horizon. 
Then  a  clear  crimson  hue  lit  up  the  western  sky, 
and  slowly  passed  through  orange  tints  into  a  bright 
yellow  light  on  the  horizon,  which  led  upward 
through  a  pinkish  glow  into  the  pale  blue  sky 
above,  streaked  and  flecked  with  wisps  of  dark 
grey  cloud.  Then,  as  the  silver  moon  shone  out 
clear  and  full  in  the  east,  the  sunset  slowly  faded 
in  tints  of  orange  and  green  and  grey,  and  the 
mosquitoes  awoke  with  a  lively  hum  to  claim  the 
night  as  theirs,  and  buzz  lovingly  around  the  ruined 
walls  and  deserted  palaces  as  if  they  were  still 
inhabited  by  their  accustomed  prey. 

I  roused  the  sleeping  camp  at  3  a.m.,  for  now 
that  the  moon  was  full,  it  was  clear  enough  to 
travel  by  night  and  thus  avoid  the  excessive  heat 
of  the  sun  by  day.  In  half  an  hour  we  were  on 
the  march,  passing  slowly  through  the  silent  town. 
The  pale  moon  shone  on  the  ruined  walls,  standing 
erect  in  the  deserted  compounds,  on  the  dilapi- 
dated palaces  with  grass  growing  freely  on  their 
roofs,  on  the  broken  waterpots  and  other  frag- 
mentary relics  of  humanity  around  the  disused 
doors,  and  on  the  white  clay  walls  which  enclosed 
the  ruins  of  the  once  renowned  Kukawa.  It 
was  a  weird  and  uncanny  sight,  and  yet  somehow 
it  seemed  to  blend  with  the  mystic  heart  of  Africa. 
We  threaded  our  way  slowly  and  silently  between 
the  whitened  walls  of  the  deserted  cities  and  out 
upon  the   black  and  treeless   plain   which  circled 

them  all  round.      I  turned  to  gaze  again  at  what 

202 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

was  once  the  proud  capital  of  Bornu,  and  my  last 
impression  of  the  once  mighty  Kukawa  was  of  some 
great  cemetery  in  the  midst  of  a  bleak  and  dismal 
plain,  with  whitened  walls  and  broken  tombstones 
and  large  and  shady  trees  casting  dismal  shadows 
in  the  moonlight. 

As  the  morning  broke,  clear  and  bright  and 
cool,  we  reached  the  wells  of  Kopchi.  The  sun 
rose  in  the  east  like  a  gleaming  golden  sphere, 
its  level  rays  skimming  the  plain  and  touching 
with  colour  the  bare  mimosas  and  the  yellow 
grass  and  dispelling  all  the  gloomy  thoughts  of 
night.  The  cloudbank  round  the  sun  became  a 
mass  of  golden  glory,  and  the  thin  wispy  clouds 
in  the  clear  blue  sky  reflected  the  morning  glow. 
The  birds  chirped  and  hopped  in  the  bushes  and 
the  doves  cooed  amongst  the  scattered  trees,  while 
from  a  distant  village  came  the  crowing  of  cocks 
and  the  barking  of  dogs  as  they  greeted  the 
morning  sun.  Bornu  would  be  quite  a  tolerable 
place  if  it  could  always  be  morning  and  the 
morning  could  always  be  clear  and  bright.  Thfe 
cool  dry  air  is  bracing  and  the  sunrise  glorious, 
but  every  climate  has  its  own  disadvantages  ;  and 
when  the  morning  is  thick  and  stifling  with  the 
harmattan,  or  when  the  sun  becomes  hot  and  gleam- 
ing white  as  the  day  advances,  one  begins  to  think 
that  the  land  of  the  blacks  is  not  to  be  so  greatly 
envied  after  all  ! 

We  reached  Mongonu  in  good  time  before  the 
sun  was  hot,  and  camped  again  in  the  Residency 
compound.     The    three    following    marches    from 

203 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Mongonu    to    Gongolan    were   accomplished    in   a 
similar  manner.     Each  morning  we  left  the  rest- 
camp  at  3.30  in  the  clear  moonlight,  and  reached 
our  destination  by  nine  o'clock  or  half -past  nine. 
On  the  fourth  morning  we  covered  the  short  march 
from  Gongolan  to  Maifoni,  past  Maidugari  and  its 
tidy  market-place,  and  spent  the  remainder  of  the 
day  in  making  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the 
continuation  of  our  journey  into   western   Bornu. 
Until  about  two  years  before  my  visit,  the  main 
road  from  Maifoni  and  Maidugari  to  Marguba  and 
Gujba  made  a  long  detour  to  the  north  by   way 
of   Maigumeri,   while   only  a   perilous   bridle-path, 
much    infested   by   highwaymen   and    thieves,    ran 
directly   westward   through   the   forest.      Recently, 
however,    a   broad   road   has    been    cut   along   the 
former  bush  path  and  the  forest  cleared  of  robbers, 
with  the  result  that  the  journey  from  Maidugari  to 
Gujba  has   been   shortened   by  two   days'   march. 
This  road  is  now  regularly  used  by  traders  ;    and 
native    settlers,    subsidised    by    Government,    have 
begun  to  build  villages  here  and  there  in  clearings 
in  the  bush.     Along  this  road,  moreover,  runs  the 
telegraph   line   to    Maifoni,   and   the   linesmen    are 
constantly  passing  backwards  and  forwards  along 
the    path.      Messages,    indeed,    can   be    sent    from 
Maifoni  to  London  within  four  days  ;    and  it  was 
frequently  comforting  to  reflect,  when  on  long  and 
dusty  marches  we  crossed  or  followed  for  soine 
distance  the  telegraph  clearing  in  the  bush,  that 
here  at   least   was   a  tangible   link   with  home,   a 
living  wire  which  stretched  continuously  from  the 

204 


The   Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

inner  heart  of  Africa  to  the  happy  shores  of 
England. 

As  we  left  Maifoni  we  passed  through  open  culti- 
vated country,  studded  with  many  villages,  some 
of  them  built  of  the  beehive  huts  of  the  Shuas. 
Beyond  Jajel  we  entered  the  broad  road  which 
has  been  cut  in  the  open  and  uninhabited  forest. 
It  was  evident  that  much  of  the  country  became 
swampy  in  the  rains,  for  the  hoofmarks  of  cattle 
were  printed  deeply  in  the  sandy  loam.  The  trees 
were  bare  and  leafless  and  the  surface  of  the  plain 
between  blackened  with  fire.  The  road  was  hard 
and  dry  and  dusty,  but  off  the  beaten  path  the 
horses  sank  deeply  in  the  loose  and  treacherous 
soil  where  the  ants  and  the  hysenas  had  under- 
mined the  surface. 

We  camped  at  Limlim,  a  recent  settlement  in 
the  forest,  and  set  out  again  before  dawn,  by  the 
light  of  the  waning  moon,  through  the  barren  and 
desolate  bush.  All  the  "  tubkas,''  or  shallow 
swampy  hollows,  along  the  road  were  now  dry 
and  hard  and  cracked  like  the  firkls  of  the  east. 
It  was  a  cool  and  cloudy  morning,  and  the 
carriers  walked  well  on  the  smooth  and  sandy  road, 
each  with  his  right  hand  raised  to  steady  the  load 
upon  his  head,  his  bundle  of  clothes  and  his  water- 
bottle  swinging  from  his  shoulder.  The  bush  was 
thin  and  open,  with  little  undergrowth,  but  with 
large  and  spreading  kukas  rising  above  the  general 
level  of  the  forest,  and  when  near  the  path 
affording  patches  of  pleasant  shade  when  the  sun 
appeared.     We  reached  Marguba,  however,  before 

205 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  heat  became  excessive,  and  found  the  rest- 
camp  situated  picturesquely  amongst  a  number  of 
large  and  leafy  trees  and  surrounded  by  a  well- 
kept  thorn  zariba.  Near  the  camp  in  a  sandy 
hollow  was  a  small  crescent-shaped  lake  or  pool, 
full  of  semi-stagnant  water.  Close  to  it  were  the 
village  wells  and  onion-fields,  and  at  a  little 
distance  the  busy  market,  whose  well  stocked  stalls 
rejoiced  the  hearts  of  the  carriers. 

It  was  at  Marguba  that  Fadl  Ullah,  the  son  of 
the  great  Rabeh,  was  camped  in  1900  when,  being 
much  harassed  by  the  French,  he  opened  negotia- 
tions with  the  British  with  the  view  of  putting  him- 
self under  their  protection,  and  it  was  here  that 
he  entertained  for  a  fortnight  the  British  officers 
who  were  sent  to  discuss  the  terms  of  surrender. 
Unfortunately  for  him,  however,  the  French  were 
on  his  track,  having  pursued  him  even  into  British 
territory.  He  retired  on  Gujba,  but  the  French 
again  followed,  besieged  and  captured  the  town,  and 
the  self-styled  Sultan  of  Bornu  perished  in  the  fray. 

At  Gotumba,  a  small  Kanuri  village  where  we 
camped  on  the  following  day,  we  found  the  rest- 
house  not  only  full  of  mosquitoes  as  usual,  but 
full  of  white  ants  as  well,  which  kept  dropping  from 
the  roof  upon  me  and  upon  my  bed,  and  rose 
through  the  floor  and  began  to  gnaw  their  way 
into  my  provision-boxes  whenever  they  were  left 
more  than  an  hour  in  one  position.  The  village 
being  at  some  little  distance,  the  old  king  rode 
over  to  see  me  and  ofl'er  his  salutations.  Presently, 
however,    in   the    course   of   conversation   the   real 

206 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

object  of  his  visit  appeared.  He  informed  me 
that  his  skin  was  becoming  dry  and  wrinkled  and 
his  bones  and  muscles  stiff  with  age,  and  proffered 
his  request  that  I  should  give  him  of  the  white 
man's  elixir  of  youth,  or,  as  he  put  it,  something 
to  rub  over  his  body  to  make  him  young  once  more  ! 
Gujba  now  lay  twenty-two  miles  to  the  west,  and 
this  distance  I  decided  to  cover  in  two  stages 
instead  of  one,  especially  as  the  marches  to  Kerri 
Kerri,  beyond  Gujba,  were  to  be  both  lengthy  and 
tedious.  We  set  out,  therefore,  at  dawn  for  Girboa, 
where  the  next  rest-camp  was  situated.  It  was 
a  cool  and  bracing  morning  and  the  sun  rose 
through  a  misty  haze  of  harmattan  on  the  horizon. 
The  road  led  over  a  gently  undulating  and  feature- 
less plain,  covered  with  thin  and  open  bush,  out 
of  which  there  rose  occasional  large  and  leafless 
kuka-trees.  The  soil  was  good  and  composed  of 
the  dark-coloured  sandy  loam  which  is  so  widely 
distributed  over  Bornu,  and  which  here,  as  else- 
where, could  be  made  most  productive  and  capable 
of  supporting  a  large  and  industrious  population. 
Like  the  greater  part  of  Nigeria,  Bornu  is 
very  scantily  inhabited,  and  long  stretches  of 
virgin  soil  separate  the  towns  and  villages.  It 
is  to  be  hoped,  however,  that  the  cessation  of 
the  inter-tribal  wars  which  formerly  at  frequent 
intervals  decimated  the  population,  and  the  pro- 
gress of  the  preventive  measures  which  are  now 
being  undertaken  with  a  view  to  avoiding  the  out- 
breaks   of    plague    which    formerly    ravaged    the 

country,    may   result    in   a   rapid    increase    in    the 

207 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

numbers  of  the  inhabitants,  and  that  under  the 
peaceful  security  of  British  rule  more  and  more 
of  the  uncultivated  bush  may  be  annually  reclaimed 
and  cleared  for  farmland. 

Before  the  sun  was  hot  we  reached  Girboa, 
another  small  Kanuri  village  with  a  clean  and 
tidy  rest-camp  ;  and  early  next  morning  we  arrived 
at  Gujba,  the  capital  of  western  Bornu.  About 
three  miles  from  the  town  we  crossed  a  strip  of 
desiccated  swamp,  with  a  small  and  shallow  pool 
of  water  on  the  right,  surrounded  by  onion-beds 
and  vegetable  gardens.  In  the  rainy  season,  when 
the  lake  is  full,  this  stretch  of  swamp  is  most 
difficult  to  cross,  and  it  was  upon  this  obstacle 
that  Fadl  Ullah  too  sanguinely  relied  to  give  him 
time  to  rearrange  his  army  when  he  retired  pre- 
cipitately from  Marguba  to  Gujba  in  one  night  on 
the  approach  of  the  French.  Gujba  is  a  large 
and  well  walled  town,  set  on  sandy  rising  ground 
in  the  midst  of  an  open  undulating  cultivated  plain, 
with  shallow  swampy  hollows  between  the  sandy 
ridges.  The  fort,  now  disused,  with  the  Residency 
and  barracks,  lies  about  a  mile  to  the  east  of  the 
town  on  a  parallel  sandy  rise,  and  separated  from 
the  town  by  a  swampy  hollow,  in  which  the  wells 
are  dug. 

From  Gujba  the  main  road  and  the  telegraph 

line    run    south-westward    by    way    of    Mutwe    to 

Nafada  and  the  Gongola.     As  it  was  my  purpose, 

however,   to   visit   the   Kerri   Kerri   plateau   to   the 

west,   we   had   here   to   leave   the   broad   and    well 

frequented  highway  along  which  we  had  hitherto 

208 


The  Ancient  Kingdom  of  Bornu 

travelled  throughout  Bornu,  and  follow  a  bridle- 
path through  the  desolate  and  waterless  forest .  We 
camped  at  Chumga,  a  small  and  poverty-stricken 
Kanuri  settlement  in  the  middle  of  the  bush,  where 
the  carriers  had  to  subsist  on  the  scantiest  of  sup- 
plies in  addition  to  what  they  had  had  the  fore- 
sight to  carry  with  them  from  Gujba.  We  stopped 
to  rest  next  day  at  the  wells  of  Abakri,  and  from' 
a  neighbouring  sandy  hummock  we  could  see, 
rising  from  a  broken  plain,  the  detached  flat- 
topped  and  rounded  hills  and  long  extended  ridges 
which  introduced  the  Kerri  Kerri  plateau.  A 
number  of  prosperous  Kanuri  towns  are  situated 
along  the  base  of  the  hills,  and  at  one  of  these 
a  runfa  had  been  erected  for  my  use  under  a  shady 
tree  outside  the  town,  while  the  carriers  found 
comfortable  quarters  and  abundant  supplies  within 
the  walls. 

We  had  now  reached  the  extreme  western  limit 
of  the  plains  of  Bornu,  and  the  path  to  Potiskum, 
the  capital  of  Kerri  Kerri,  lay  through  the  village 
of  Durua,  which  nestled  picturesquely  at  the  foot 
of  the  hills,  amidst  a  number  of  large  and 
shady  trees.  We  halted  for  an  hour  in  this, 
the  last  of  the  Kanuri  settlements,  the  farthest 
margin  in  this  direction  of  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Bornu  ;  and  as  we  left  the  village  fields  behind 
us  and  climbed  the  low  ascent  to  the  plateau  above, 
I  thought  again  of  the  departed  glory  of  the  land 
and  of  that  silent  grass-grown  city,  once  the 
throbbing  heart  of  a  mighty  empire,  now  slowly 

sinking  into  dust  on  the  western  shores  of  Chad. 

209  o 


CHAPTER    VIII 

ON   THE   BORDERS   OF   HAUSALAND 

"  Take  the  world  as  it  is ! — there  are  good  and  bad  in  it. 
And  good  and  bad  will  be  from  now  to  the  end.^^ 

The  Kerri  Kerris — In  the  Golden  Age — Canon  valleys — The  margin 
of  the  plateau — The  sarikin  Daia — The  kings  of  Jellum — Into 
Hausa  country — A  disappointed  sariki — Hospitable  natives — 
A  Hausa  welcome — Hausas  and  Fulani — The  rocks  of  Shira 
— A  midnight  thief — Searching  the  village — The  Ningi  hills — 
A  pagan  stronghold — Ari,  Ningi,  and  Bura — The  magnificence 
of  the  sarikin  Bura — A  striking  contrast. 

The  Kerri  Kerris  are  an  industrious  pagan  tribe, 
the  southernmost  border  of  whose  country  was  first 
visited  by  Lieutenant  Boyd  Alexander  in  1904. 
Their  capital,  Potiskum,  is  a  fair-sized  town,  set 
in  the  middle  of  the  open  northern  plains,  which 
are  studded  with  numerous  villages  and  hamlets, 
each  wearing  to  the  casual  traveller  an  air  of  con- 
tentment and  prosperity.  As  is  the  case,  how- 
ever, in  all  the  pagan  districts  of  Nigeria,  there 
is  no  overlord  with  any  power  ;  and  each  of  the 
larger  towns  is  practically  independent  and  at  peace 

or  war  with  its  neighbours  as  circumstances  may 

210 


On  the   Borders  of  Hausaland 

dictate.  Although  Potiskum  is  generally  recog- 
nised as  the  chief  town  of  the  tribe,  the  outlying 
villages  owe  nothing  but  a  nominal  allegiance  to 
its  sarlkl.  Each  town  or  village  is  jealous  of  its 
neighbour,  and  in  consequence,  while  the  Kerri 
Kerris  may  fight  amongst  themselves  or  with  adjoin- 
ing tribes,  they  cannot,  for  lack  of  combination, 
offer  any  resistance  to  the  white  man,  and  have 
therefore  been  obliged  to  accept  the  inevitable  yoke 
with  the  best  grace  that  they  can  muster.  This 
is,  indeed,  everywhere  a  characteristic  feature  of 
the  pagan  as  distinguished  from  the  Mohammedan 
states  of  the  Protectorate,  and  it  is  to  the  lack 
of  this  virtue  of  combination  that  is  to  be  directly 
traced  the  ease  of  the  British  conquest  and  re- 
pression of  the  pagan  hordes  by  a  handful  of 
officials.  The  rifle  and  the  machine-gun  have,  of 
cpurse,  contributed  much  to  the  prestige  of  the 
white  man  ;  but  even  so,  if  only  the  pagans  could 
unite  amongst  themselves,  their  poisoned  arrows  and 
throwing-spears  would  probably  prove  equal  to, 
if  not  more  than  a  match  for,  the  bullets  of  the 
native  soldiery. 

The  Kerri  Kerris,  moreover,  like  most  other 
pag'an  tribes,  still  live  in  the  Golden  Age  and 
follow 

"The  good  old  rule,  the  simple  plan, 
That  he  should  take  who  has  the  power, 
And  he  should  keep  who  can." 

English  law  to  them,  therefore,  is  an  infliction 
which   they   cannot   understand.      Just   before   my 

211 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

visit  to  Potiskum,  the  headman  of  a  neighbour- 
ing village  had  robbed  and  left  for  dead  a 
Kanuri  merchant  who  had  been  passing  through 
the  country.  When  apprehended  and  brought 
before  the  Resident,  he  explained  that  he  was  a 
poor  man  and  thought  it  only  right  that  he  should 
relieve  the  other  of  his  wealth  to  supply  his  own 
needs.  He  protested  that  he  had  done  no  wrong, 
and  that  he  had  only  followed  the  custom  of  his 
people  ;  and  he  could  not  understand  why  he  should 
therefore  be  tied  up  and  imprisoned.  This  diffi- 
culty, indeed,  is  met  at  every  step  in  the  attempt 
to  introduce  English  law  and  order  into  these  pagan 
states,  and  progress  is  necessarily  very  tedious  and 
slow. 

From  Potiskum  we  took  the  road  southward 
towards  Fika,  over  the  undulating  sandy  surface 
of  the  plateau.  Villages  and  hamlets  were 
numerous,  the  compounds  being  enclosed  by  walls 
of  matting  and  shaded  by  large  and  leafy  trees. 
The  greater  part  of  the  plain  appeared  to  be  under 
cultivation,  the  fallow  land  being  covered  with 
tufty  grass  and  thorny  scrub.  Here  and  there  a 
few  low  hillocks  of  grit  and  ironstone  rose  from 
the  surface  of  the  plain,  with  mounds  of  blown 
sand  banked  up  against  their  slopes.  We  camped 
at  Farsawa,  one  of  three  small  towns  set  close 
together  on  the  open  plain,  and  surrounded  by 
dilapidated  walls.  Most  of  the  trees  throughout 
the  farmland  held  amongst  their  branches  long, 
narrow  tubular  beehives  of  basket  work,  and  it 
was  with  some  little  difficulty  that  we  at  length 

212 


On  the   Borders  of  Hausaland 

found  a  suitable  camping-place  uninhabited  by 
these  unwelcome  attendants.  It  appeared  also  that 
the  headman  of  Farsawa  had  gone  to  one  of  the 
adjoining  towns  to  condole  with  the  people  on  the 
death  of  their  sarikl  during  the  previous  night ; 
and  all  afternoon  and  evening  the  sound  of  con- 
tinuous drumming  and  singing  came  from  the 
mourning  village.  The  people  themselves,  how- 
ever, brought  out  abundant  supplies  of  food  to 
sell  to  the  carriers,  and  looked,  on  the  whole, 
gratified  by  our  visit. 

Beyond  Farsawa  lay  many  small  villages  in  the 
midst  of  the  farms,  separated  from  each  other  by 
narrow  strips  of  open  bush.  We  stopped  to  rest 
under  a  shady  tree  outside  the  gates  of  Boza,  a  com- 
pact little  town  set  on  the  southern  margin  of  the 
upper  plains.  To  the  right  we  could  see  a  wide 
canon  valley,  flat-bottomed,  and  bounded  like  a 
trench  by  precipitous  sides,  cut  deeply  into  the 
level  surface  of  the  plateau  ;  and  at  our  feet  was 
a  steep  and  rocky  descent,  leading  downward  to 
a  smaller  tributary  valley  of  a  similar  type.  Our 
path  now  led  along  the  bottom  of  this  narrow  trench 
and  into  the  wider  valley  beyond,  where  our  view 
was  limited  by  the  steep  cliffs  of  white  sandstone 
on  either  hand. 

We  halted  in  the  bottom  of  the  sandy  valley, 
where  the  people  of  Lele  had  dug  their  wells.  On 
the  left  the  town  itself  was  set  aloft  on  the  margin 
of  the  cliffs  overlooking  the  valley  below,  and 
approached  by  a  steep  and  precipitous  path.  On 
the  right  the  cliffs  were  higher,  four  hundred  feet 

213 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

above  the  valley  floor,  and  again  a  town  was 
perched  upon  the  summit,  whose  inhabitants  could 
be  seen  squatting  like  monkeys  on  the  very  edge 
of  the  precipice  and  gazing  curiously  down  upon 
the  white  man  and  his  tent.  The  people  here  were 
much  more  timid  than  they  had  been  round  Potis- 
kum,  and  when  they  brought  down  food  for  the 
carriers  in  the  evening  only  a  few  of  the  older  men 
ventured  to  approach  and  salute  me,  while  the 
younger  men,  who  were  carrying  the  food,  hastily 
deposited  their  calabashes  in  a  row  and  made  off 
at  once  to  their  rocky  strongholds  above. 

The  slopes  of  the  valley  gradually  became  higher 
and  more  precipitous,  until  as  we  approached  Fika 
they  turned  off  to  the  right  and  left  to  form  the 
steep  escarpment  of  the  southern  margin  of 
the  plateau,  while  the  valley  itself  debouched  upon 
the  plains  of  the  Gongola.  The  escarpment  itself 
is  fringed  by  a  number  of  detached  conical  and 
tabular  hills,  one  of  which,  the  Fika  hill,  is  a 
well-known  local  landmark.  Fika  itself  is  a  large 
and  populous  town,  said  to  contain  seven  thousand 
inhabitants  and  to  be  thus  the  largest  town  in 
Bornu.  It  is  built  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  fronting 
the  open  plains,  and  on  the  bank  of  a  river  which 
flows  only  during  the  rains.  W-ithin  the  walls  the 
compounds  are  shaded  by  innumerable  date-palms, 
whose  spreading  tops  obscure  the  other  trees.  The 
rest-camp  is  built  about  a  mile  to  the  south  of 
the  town,  and  abundant  supplies  of  provisions  for 
myself  and  the  carriers  were  speedily  brought  out 

by  the  townspeople. 

214 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

At  Fika  I  secured  guides  to  lead  me  westward 
on  the  following  day  to  the  picturesque  country 
on  the  margin  of  the  plateau  which  had  been  visited 
by  Lieutenant  Boyd  Alexander  four  years  before. 
All  morning  the  road  led  over  a  waterless  and  un- 
interesting plain,  covered  with  thin  and  open  bush, 
which  obscured  our  view  of  the  escarpment  behind  ; 
and  just  as  the  carriers  were  beginning  to  feel 
oppressed  by  heat  and  thirst,  we  reached  the  farms 
of  Dozi,  from  which  we  had  a  clear  and  uninter- 
rupted view  of  the  margin  of  the  plateau  with  its 
fringe  of  flat -topped  and  conical  hills.  As  we 
approached  we  could  see  that  the  escarpment  was 


rnt    JouTMtRd       MAH'»if<     or    the     kci^^i  -  k£rhi    plateau. 


stepped,  a  wide  ledge  projecting  from  the  face 
of  the  cliff  about  half-way  up  the  slope.  Of  the 
detached  hills  in  front,  some  rose  to  the  same  height 
as  the  step  on  the  face  of  the  escarpment,  while 
others  rose  to  the  same  height  as  the  plateau  itself, 
and  were  themselves  stepped  in  a  similar  fashion. 
In  the  latter  case  the  appearance  was  that  of  a 
small  conical  and  flat-topped  hill  rising  from  a 
lower  and  wider  platform,  itself  raised  about 
250  feet  above  the  plain.  The  cliffs  were  com- 
posed of  white  earthy  sandstone,  capped  by  a 
layer  of  dark  ferruginous  grit,  while  the  surface 
of  the  step  was  formed  by  a  thin  bed  of  hard  red 
ironstone.      We   could   see   several   towns   perched 

215 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

aloft  on  the  edge  of  the  escarpment,  and  the 
flattened  summits  of  many  of  the  lower  isolated 
hills  in  front  were  also  occupied  by  villages  of 
varying  size.  Dozi  was  one  of  these,  a  small  town 
perched  on  the  tabular  summit  of  a  white  sand- 
stone hill,  and  approached  by  a  steep  and  pre- 
cipitous path  which  led  upward  from  the  well  on 
the  plain  below.  Here  we  camped  for  the  night 
on  the  open  parklike  farmland  ;  and  the  inhabitants, 
who  at  first  gazed  curiously  down  at  the  intruders, 
slowly  gathered  courage,  and,  at  my  request, 
ventured  down  to  draw  water  for  the  carriers.  The 
village  being  naturally  fortified  by  its  position,  there 
was  no  containing  wall  on  the  margin  of  the  clifl", 
which  was  lined  only  by  a  row  of  large  conical 
granaries,  fitted  with  caps  of  woven  grass.  The 
lower  slopes  of  the  hill  were  terraced  for  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  well  at  its  base  was  forty-two  fathoms 
deep  in  the  white  earthy  sandstone.  Most  of  the 
neighbouring  towns  and  villages  brought  contri- 
butions of  food  in  the  evening,  with  many 
expressions  of  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the 
white  man. 

The  white  cliffs  in  front  of  us  reflected  the  rosy 
tints  of  the  rising  sun  as  we  crossed  the  pleasant 
cultivated  fields  to  the  base  of  the  escarpment 
beyond.  Slowly  we  climbed  up  a  winding  path 
to  the  shelf  or  ledge  which  bisected  the  cliff,  and 
then  upward  to  the  level  surface  of  the  plateau, 
where  on  the  very  margin  was  set  the  town  of 
Kadi,  walled  in  to  the  north,  but  bounded  only  by 
the  precipice  to  the  south.      On  the  edge  of  the 

2l6 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

cliff  I  turned  to  gaze  for  the  last  time  on  the  wooded 
plains  below,  which  spread  southward  towards  the 
Gongola  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  while  east- 
ward and  westward  from  my  feet  stretched  the 
buttressed  edge  of  the  plateau,  decorated  with 
bold  flat-topped  bluffs  and  headlands,  which 
followed  each  other  in  close  succession  on  either 
hand. 

From  Kadi  the  track  led  onward  towards  Daia 
over  a  thinly  wooded  plain,  sloping  gently  towards 
the  north,  its  surface  varied  at  times  by  stretches 
of  farmland  and  fallow  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  villages.  Presently  we  met  a  mounted 
messenger,  who  brought  the  salutations  of  the 
sarikin  Daia ;  and  as  we  reached  the  outskirts 
of  the  farms,  the  sariki  himself  came  galloping 
ing  up,  followed  by  half  a  dozen  slaves  running 
panting  at  full  speed  behind  him.  The  sariki 
was  a  short,  thick-set,  but  active  personage  in 
the  prime  of  life,  who  acknowledged  the  over- 
lordship  of  Potiskum  in  a  manner  that  sug- 
gested an  allegiance  even  less  than  nominal.  He 
was,  however,  most  attentive  and  anxious  to 
please,  and  had  that  morning  erected  a  spacious 
runfa  under  a  shady  tree  close  to  the  walls  of 
the  town,  in  the  hope  that  I  would  stay  the  night 
in  his  domains  ;  and  I  had  no  sooner  gratified 
him  by  taking  possession  of  it  than  he  brought  out 
an  ample  supply  of  fowls,  eggs,  and  milk  for 
myself,  guinea-corn  for  my  horses,  and  meal  and 
cooked  food   for   the   carriers.      The   people  were 

evidently    prosperous,    happy,    and    contented,    to 

217 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

judge  from  the  extent  of  the  farms,  the  abundance 
of  provisions,  and  the  sounds  of  merry-making 
which  came  from  the  town  in  the  evening.  Here 
again,  as  before,  the  contrast  was  most  marked 
between  the  nature  of  my  reception  by  the  people 
of  the  plateau  and  by  those  of  the  rocky  cliffs  and 
valleys  of  the  southern  margin,  a  difference 
in  character  which  is  probably  to  be  explained  as 
the  result  of  the  greater  opportunities  which  the 
people  of  the  northern  towns  have  had  of  coming 
in  contact  with  the  adjoining  kingdoms  of  Hausa- 
land  and  Bomu. 

On  the  following  morning  the  sarikin  Daia  was 
early  in  attendance  to  conduct  me  to  the  outskirts 
of  the  farms  on  the  way  to  Jellum.  It  was  a 
clear  cool  morning,  and  the  golden  rays  of  the 
rising  sun  fell  across  our  path  as  we  marched  over 
the  rolling  sandy  plains  and  through  the  thin  and 
leafless  bush.  We  had  now  crossed  the  Bornu 
border  and  entered  the  Dumbum  district  of  the 
emirate  of  Katagum,  and  as  we  approached  Jellum 
we  met  a  mounted  messenger  from  the  sarikin 
Dumbum,  who  had  been  sent  forward  to  conduct 
me  to  the  residence  of  his  master  in  his  vassal 
town.  Presently  we  entered  an  open  cultivated 
parklike  plain,  in  which  were  set  close  together 
the  six  small  towns  of  Jellum,  each  with  the  dilapi- 
dated remains  of  a  bounding  wall.  In  one  of 
these  was  situated  the  sarikin  Dumbum's  com- 
pound, which  I  found  swept  and  ready  for  my 
use.     The  six  kings  or  headmen  of  the  towns  then 

came  to  greet  me  in  two  sets  of  three,   each  set 

218 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

with  one  king  of  greater  importance  than  the  other 
two.  All  were  well-bearded  and  simple-looking 
old  men,  who  expressed  themselves  as  very  pleased 
to  see  me,  and  offered  contributions  of  fowls,  eggs, 
milk,  corn,  and  meal.  Quarters  were  speedily 
found  for  the  carriers,  and  the  hospitable  natives 
supplied  them  with  an  abundance  of  food.  As 
it  happened,  also,  the  village  people  had  been  brew- 
ing pito,  or  native  beer,  and  this  they  generously, 
gave  or  sold  to  the  carriers,  with  the  result  that 
many  of  them  were  intoxicated  before  evening ; 
and  as  darkness  fell  the  kings  returned  with  quan- 
tities of  cooked  food,  which  the  carriers  were  barely 
able  to  consume. 

In  the  morning  we  bade  goodbye  to  the 
hospitable  people  of  Jellum,  and  set  out  for 
Dumbum  through  stretches  of  farmland  alter- 
nating with  belts  of  thin  and  open  bush.  We 
stopped  to  rest  by  the  wayside  near  a  small  village, 
the  last  of  the  Kerri  Kerri  settlements,  whose  in- 
habitants lined  the  wall  and  gazed  curiously  at 
the  unaccustomed  spectacle  as  we  passed. 
Presently  we  met  the  sarikin  Dumbum  himself, 
with  a  dozen  mounted  followers,  who  all  dis- 
mounted to  salute  me  and  then  took  their  place 
at  the  head  of  the  party  and  led  the  way  to  the 
rest-camp,  which  was  situated  on  the  open  plain 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  walls  of  the  town. 
The  hut  was  large,  with  a  low  thatched  roof  and 
a  door  of  coarsely  hewn  boards,  bound  together 
with  iron  hooks.     The  sarlkl  had  had  everything 

necessary  for  my  comfort  placed  in  or  around  the 

219 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

house,  and  before  they  left  me  to  my  leisure  both 
he  and  his  headmen  repeatedly  emphasised  the  fact 
that  they  were  much  gratified  by  my  visit.  In 
the  course  of  the  afternoon  many  caravans  of  pack- 
oxen,  donkeys,  and  camels  from  northern  Bornu 
passed  my  camp  on  their  way  to  the  west  or  stopped 
to  water  at  the  wells  by  the  roadside  near  the 
rest-house.  Here  also  there  gathered  in  the 
evening  many  herds  of  cattle  and  sheep,  which 
patiently  waited  their  turn  to  drink  of  the  water 
which  their  herdsmen  slowly  hoisted  from  the 
bottom  of  the  well. 

The  attentive  sarikl  was  early  on  the  spot  to  bid 
me  farewell,  and  lead  me  for  a  short  distance 
through  the  farms  which  surrounded  the  town.  He 
then  handed  me  over  to  the  care  of  a  mounted  guide, 
whose  instructions  were  to  take  me  safely  to  the 
next  large  town  of  Yayu.  A  messenger,  however, 
had  evidently  been  sent  ahead  on  the  preceding 
day,  for  as  we  approached  the  wayside  town  of 
Yami,  we  met  the  sarlki,  an  old  but  still  active  man, 
who  saluted  me  most  respectfully  and  led  me  to 
an  excellent  runfa  which  he  had  erected  for  my 
use,  and  close  to  which  he  had  placed  an  abundant 
supply  of  water,  wood,  corn,  and  milk,  and  cooked 
food  for  the  carriers,  in  the  hope  that  I  would  stay 
all  night  at  his  town.  He  was  therefore  grievously 
disappointed  when  I  informed  him  that  I  could 
only  stop  for  breakfast,  and  that  it  was  necessary 
for  me  to  go  on  to  Yayu  that  same  day.  I 
attempted,  however,  to  lessen  his  sorrow  by  con- 
gratulating him  on  the  excellent  runfa  he  had  built 

220 


I 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

and  on  the  other  preparations  which  he  had  made 
for  my  comfort,  and  by  telling  him  that  it  was 
evident  to  any  one  that  he  knew  exactly  how  a 
white  man  should  be  entertained.  In  reply,  he 
repeated  again  and  again  that  he  and  all  his  people 
were  very  pleased  to  see  me  and  would  have 
considered  it  a  very  great  honour  if  I  could  have 
seen  my  way  to  accept  their  hospitality  for  a  night. 
The  courteous  old  man  then  conveyed  me  to  the 
outskirts  of  his  farms,  bowed  respectfully  as  he 
said  goodbye,  and  offered  my  carriers  a  dignified 
"  Sal  wota  rana  "  ("  Goodbye  ")  as  they  passed. 

Our  path  now  led  over  an  undulating  sandy  plain 
covered  with  thin  and  open  bush,  until  we  reached 
the  parklike  cultivated  country  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Yayu.  As  we  entered  the  fields,  we  caught 
a  glimpse  of  a  mounted  scout  disappearing  amongst 
the  trees,  and  presently  the  sarikln  Yayu  came  up 
at  a  gallop  with  a  number  of  retainers  running 
behind  him  on  foot.  The  sariki  dismounted  at 
a  little  distance,  ran  forward  to  salute  me,  and  then 
remounted  and  led  the  way  into  his  town,  which 
in  the  old  days  had  been  fortified  by  an  outer 
and  an  inner  wall,  each  consisting  of  a  double 
rampart  and  a  double  ditch.  A  house  had  been 
prepared  for  me  near  the  mosque  within  the  inner 
wall  and  fitted  with  a  shady  extension  of  zana 
matting.  Here  the  sariki  received  me  with  all  due 
honour  and  offered  light  refreshments  in  the  shape 
of  mandara  (sweet  milk)  for  myself  and  jura  (meal 
and  milk)  and  nono  (sour  milk)  for  the  carriers. 
He   then   asked   to   be   excused   in   order   that   he 

221 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

might  find  quarters  for  the  carriers  and  collect 
provisions  for  his  visitors,  and  presently  returned 
to  say  that  everything  had  been  satisfactorily 
arranged  and  a  mounted  messenger  sent  ahead 
to  Hardawa  to  intimate  my  arrival  on  the 
following  day. 

We  were  roused  at  the  first  streak  of  dawn  by 
the  resounding  voices  of  the  mallams  as  they 
called  aloud  "  Allahu  akbar  "  to  the  eastern  sky. 
The  sarlki  was  early  in  the  saddle  and  conducted 
me  over  the  parklike  plain  to  the  farther  bank 
of  the  Kogin  Shidya,  where  he  took  leave  of  me 
and  returned  to  his  town.  On  the  banks  of  the 
river,  where  it  became  swampy  in  the  rains,  were 
many  fields  of  tobacco,  cotton,  corn,  and  cala- 
bashes, while  beyond,  the  road  led  over  an  open 
undulating  plain  through  alternations  of  cleared  and 
cultivated  farmland  and  thin  and  open  bush.  We 
were  now  traversing  the  eastern  margin  of  the 
plains  of  Hausaland,  whose  gently  rolling  surface 
stretched  north-westward  towards  the  city  of  Kano 
without  a  single  rock  or  boulder  to  diversify  the 
scene.  Only  in  this  south-eastern  corner  of  the 
province  were  there  scattered  hillocks  and  kopjes 
of  granite  rising  from  the  sandy  plain,  with  towns 
or  villages  sheltering  at  their  base. 

We  stopped  to  rest  at  a  little  wayside  village 
surrounded  by  the  remains  of  an  extensive  wall 
which  marked  its  former  greater  area,  and  then  we 
moved  onward  towards  Hardawa  through  pretty 
parklike  country  with  here  and  there  an  unburnt 
patch  of  tall  and  yellow  aromatic  grass  or  a  clump 

222 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

of  yellow  flowering  shrubs  giving  off  a  pleasant 
perfume  in  the  morning  air.  As  we  approached 
Hardawa  we  saw  a  number  of  mounted  men  waiting 
underneath  the  trees,  who  as  soon  as  they  observed 
us  came  forward  at  a  gallop.  They  proved  to  be 
the  sarlkin  Hardawa  and  his  retainers,  together  with 
the  wazirl  of  Katagum,  who  happened  to  be  at 
the  time  in  Hardawa  collecting  the  local  taxes .  All 
were  gaily  and  extravagantly  dressed  in  turbans, 
embroidered  gowns  and  trousers,  and  long  riding- 
boots  of  painted  leather.  Their  swords  dangled 
noisily  from  silken  hangers  as  they  approached, 
spurring  their  chargers  to  their  utmost  speed,  their 
spears  in  their  right  hands  raised  high  above  their 
heads.  Within  a  few  yards  of  mine  they  pulled 
their  horses  sharply  up  on  their  haunches,  and  after 
saluting  me  in  the  most  approved  fashion,  wheeled 
round  and  escorted  me  towards  the  town. 
Hardawa  is  a  large  and  important  place,  surrounded 
by  an  outer  and  an  inner  wall  with  a  considerable 
space  between,  occupied  very  largely  by  cotton 
farms.  The  market-place  is  situated  between  the 
outer  and  the  inner  gates,  and  many  smiths  were 
busily  plying  their  art  in  the  outer  booths.  Within 
the  town  itself  many  of  the  houses  had  flat  and 
turreted  roofs  of  clay,  while  most  of  the  com- 
pounds were  prettily  shaded  by  date-palms.  A 
number  of  houses  had  been  swept  and  put  in 
order  for  the  use  of  myself  and  my  carriers,  two 
of  them  having  been  fitted  with  zana  extensions 
to  form  an  outer  sitting-room  during  the  heat  of 

the  day.     Many  people  of  greater  or  less  import- 

223 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

ance  came  to  salute  me  in  the  afternoon,  amongst 
them  an  old  man  who  said  he  was  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  all  of  them  impressed  upon 
me  the  fact  that  they,  were  very  pleased  to  have  a 
white  man  visiting  their  town.  Abundant  supplies 
of  cooked  food  were  forthcoming  for  the  carriers 
in  the  evening,  and  with  drumming,  singing,  and 
dancing  the  town  made  merry  in  the  moonlight 
until  the  night  was  well  advanced. 

In  the  morning  our  path  led  first  through  the 
open  farmland  around  the  town,  and  then  over  a 
rocky  rise  of  white  sandstone  and  conglomerate 
which  ran  off  to  the  left  as  a  low  and  buttressed 
escarpment  fronting  the  open  plain.  The  greater 
part  of  the  country  was  under  cultivation,  and  our 
way  led  through  a  continued  succession  of  farm- 
land and  fallow,  with  here  a  patch  of  aromatic 
grass  and  here  a  low  clump  of  prickly  mimosa 
perfuniing  the  air  as  we  passed.  As  we  neared 
Zagawa,  a  large  town  picturesquely  shaded  by 
many  date-palms,  we  were  again  received  in  true 
Hausa  style.  The  sariki  had  sent  three  mounted 
messengers  along  the  road  for  a  considerable 
distance  to  meet  me  and  convey  his  salutations,  and 
when  we  came  in  sight  of  the  town  the  sariki 
himself  came  out  on  horseback,  dismounted  at  a 
little  distance,  and  knelt  to  perform  his  obeisance 
and  bid  me  welcome  to  his  town.  He  then  rode 
ahead  of  me  into  the  town  with  his  attendants, 
dismounted  again  and  stood  to  receive  me  at  the 
door  of  the  house  where  I  was  to  breakfast .     Much 

cooked  food  and  milk  was  then  brought  forward 

224 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

for  my  people  and  a  most  acceptable  present  of 
sweet  potatoes  and  tomatoes  offered  to  myself. 
When  I  was  ready  to  go,  the  sarikl  again  accom- 
panied me  to  the  limit  of  his  farms  and  knelt 
again  to  bid  me  farewell  and  call  down  the 
blessings  of  the  Prophet  on  my.  head. 

My  journey  from  Dumbum  westward  had 
hitherto  been  through  a  hospitable  Hausa  country, 
where  my  reception  at  each  town  I  had  visited 
had  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  The  spectacular 
welcomes  which  I  had  been  accorded,  besides 
being  a  token  of  loyalty  and  good  feeling,  were 
a  source  of  much  pleasure  to  the  people  them- 
selves. As  a  race,  the  Hausas  dearly  love  display, 
and  their  chieftains  gladly  welcome  every  possible 
opportunity  of  exhibiting  their  horsemanship  and 
their  gaudy  finery,  while  the  common  people  none 
the  less  love  to  gaze  at  the  rich  apparel  of  their 
masters.  Dressed  in  sombre  khaki  and  helmet,  I 
have  often  felt  myself  an  insignificant  figure  in  the 
midst  of  a  group  of  turbaned  Hausas,  clad  in  flowing 
gowns  and  gaily  embroidered  trousers,  booted  and 
spurred,  and  equipped  with  sword  or  spear  on 
richly  caparisoned  horses.  And  yet,  though  they 
may  despise  his  dress,  these  showy  warriors  in  all 
their  mediaeval  finery  have  learned  to  know  that 
the  white  man's  word  is  law,  and  that  in  spite 
of  his  insignificance  his  wishes  must  be  respected 
and  his  requests  obeyed.  The  Hausas,  indeed,  bear 
little  malice,  and  have  cheerfully  accepted  the  yoke 
of    the    white    man    in    place    of    that    of    their 

former  Fulani  rulers.     The  latter,  however,  have 

225  p 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

acquiesced  with  an  ill  grace  in  the  new  regime, 
and  in  many  places  grudgingly  welcome  and 
entertain  the  passing  European. 

From  Zagawa  the  path  led  over  the  open  culti- 
vated plain,  with  many  cotton-fields  enclosed  by 
hedges  of  millet-stalks,  until  we  reached  the  town 
of  Zubi,  in  the  population  of  which  the  Fulani 
element  appeared  to  be  predominant.  The  sarikl, 
who  was  seated  at  the  door  of  his  compound,  rose 
deliberately  to  receive  me  and  conduct  me  quietly 
to  an  empty  hut  which  had  been  set  apart  for  my 
use.  He  was  attired  only  in  his  soiled  every-day 
robes,  and  had  apparently  made  no  attempt  to 
dress  for  the  occasion.  It  seemed  to  be  also  with 
some  difficulty  that  he  was  able  to  find  men  to 
put  up,  at  my  request,  a  zana  extension  in  front 
of  the  doorway  to  ward  off  the  burning  rays  of 
the  afternoon  sun.  The  contrast,  indeed,  was 
very  striking  between  my  reception  here  and  the 
boisterous  welcome  of  the  Hausa  towns  to  the  east. 
Abundant  supplies  of  cooked  food  and  milk,  how- 
ever, were  forthcoming  in  the  evening,  and  what- 
ever the  attitude  of  the  sarikl  might  be,  the  people 
themselves  when  they  returned  from  their  farms 
had  little  hesitation  in  entertaining  the  carriers  with 
the  best  they  could  provide. 

Next  morning  we  set  out  for  Shira,  that  town 
which  Barth  described  from  hearsay  as  "  a  con- 
siderable place,  fortified  by  Nature,  its  position 
among  the  rocks,  which  surround  it  on  all  sides, 
leaving   only  a  narrow   approach   from   north-west 

and  south,  otherwise  there  is  no  wall,"  and  I  was 

226 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

curious  to  know  how  this  description  would  tally 
with  reality.  The  road  led  over  the  open  culti- 
vated plain,  studded  with  many  villages  and 
hamlets,  from  which  came  the  cheerful  sounds  of 
the  cocks  crowing  and  the  women  singing  at  their 
work  within  the  compounds.  The  fallow-land 
which  separated  the  cultivated  fields  was  covered 
either  with  tall  aromatic  grass  or  with  low  scrub 
and  undergrowth  or  with  open  mimosa-bush, 
perfuming  the  air  around.  We  breakfasted  outside 
the  walls  of  Kurgo,  a  small  Fulani  town,  whose 
sarlkl  brought  out  the  necessary  wood  and  water 
to  the  roadside.  Presently  we  came  in  sight  of 
the  rocks  of  Shira  ;  and  as  we  approached  and 
followed  the  base  of  the  outermost  hills  we  found 
the  path  crossing  a  number  of  rapid  undulations 
in  red  earthy  sand,  which  seemed  to  be  banked 
up  in  waves  against  the  rocks.  It  was  evident 
that  these  sandy  mounds  were  the  worn  remains 
of  ancient  dunes  which  had  been  accumulated  at 
a  time  when  the  desert  held  sway  over  these 
northern  plains.  Now,  however,  they  had  all  but 
lost  their  shape,  while  the  sandfields  to  the  north 
had  become  smiling  cultivated  plains,  decorated 
with  scattered  trees  and  occasional  rocky  knobs 
of  granite  protruding  from  their  floor. 

At  length  the  path  turned  abruptly  southward 
and  led  between  two  kopjes  of  huge  rounded  granite 
boulders  and  through  a  narrow  pass  which  at  one 
time  had  been  barred  by  an  earthen  wall.  Then 
we  descended  a  gentle  sandy  slope  to  the  narrow 

plain  on  which  the  town  was  set,  surrounded,  and 

227 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

to  all  appearance  completely  shut  in,  by  a  circle 
of  granite  hills.  The  town  was  large  and  pro- 
tected by  a  double  rampart  and  ditch,  and  pictur- 
esquely shaded  by  numerous  date-palms.  I  had 
been  informed  that  the  sariki  was  very  feeble  and 
upwards  of  one  hundred  years  of  age,  and  I  did 
not  therefore  expect  an  official  reception.  His  son, 
the  wazlrl,  however,  a  pleasant  elderly  man,  who 
was  acting  in  his  place,  mounted  hastily  when  he 
was  told  that  I  was  close  at  hand,  and  met  me  in 
the  market-place,  which  lay  just  outside  the 
northern  wall  of  the  town.  He  then  conducted  me 
to  the  house  which  had  been  prepared  for  me,  and 
presently  brought  abundant  supplies  of  fowls,  eggs, 
ground-nuts,  and  guinea-corn,  and  in  the  evening 
cooked  food  for  the  carriers  and  fruit  and  fresh 
milk  for  myself. 

Next  morning  we  left  Shira  by  the  southern  gate, 
and  passing  through  a  gap  in  the  circle  of  hills, 
entered  again  the  open  undulating  plain.  Being 
excellent  grazing-ground,  the  country  was  here 
inhabited  mostly  by  Fulani,  whose  villages  were 
set  on  sandy  rising  ground  exposed  to  the  full  glare 
and  heat  of  the  sun.  We  stopped  to  rest  at  one 
of  these  villages,  and  then  continued  our  journey 
over  the  open  undulating  plain  until  we  reached 
a  strip  of  high  and  open  bush,  through  which  there 
ran  a  river-bed  with  the  water  now  confined  to 
stagnant  pools.  On  the  farther  bank  the  road  ran 
parallel  with  the  ruined  wall  of  some  large  town, 
the  ditch  now  filled  with  thorny  undergrowth  and 

the  rampart  sunk  to  a  rounded  mound.     The  city 

228 


^ 


f 


^^ 


W 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

had  probably  been  taken  and  devastated  in  the 
days  of  the  Fulani  conquest,  and  now  the  once 
busy  site  was  occupied  only  by  the  scattered  huts 
of  the  settlers  who  had  returned  to  farm  the  fields 
of  their  forefathers.  Presently  we  reached  Dingaia, 
a  populous  Fulani  town,  with  a  busy  market,  which 
had  evidently  outgrown  the  former  wall.  Here 
I  camped  for  the  night  in  the  smoky  entrance - 
hall  of  the  sarikis  compound,  with  the  swallows 
nesting  in  the  roof.  It  chanced  to  be  market-day, 
and  the  carriers  found  ample  provisions  on  sale, 
while  the  sariki  supplied  me  with  a  calabash  of 
excellent  milk  in  the  evening.  The  headmen  of 
the  town  appeared  to  be  all  very  devout  Moham- 
medans, and  entered  the  mosque  every  two  hours 
to  recite  their  prayers,  the  mosque  itself  being 
situated  near  my  house,  and  consisting  of  a  thatched 
hut,  enclosed  by  high  walls  of  matting  and  shaded 
by  leafy  trees. 

I  was  awakened  at  the  first  streak  of  dawn  by 
the  mallani's  call  to  prayers,  and,  the  carriers 
having  been  roused,  we  left  the  sleeping  town  and 
took  the  path  towards  the  rocks  of  Fagam,  which 
soon  became  visible  in  the  distance.  The  open 
cultivated  plain  was  now  diversified  by  many 
granite  boulders,  scattered  singly  or  in  heaps  or 
occasionally  aggregated  together  in  low  rocky 
kopjes.  We  passed  the  prosperous  town  of 
Galambi,  surrounded  by  a  double  ditch  and 
stockade,  and  followed  the  margin  of  the  hills  over 
a  broken  and,  in  places,  rocky  plain  to  the  village 

of  Gadama,  a  Fulani  settlement,  at  which   I  pro- 

229 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

posed  to  camp  for  the  night.  Here  I  found 
quarters  in  the  zaurl  of  the  sarikis  compound,  a 
roomy  hut  with  a  zana  extension  towards  the 
street.  The  villagers  appeared  to  be  somewhat 
sulky,  and  it  was  with  some  little  difficulty  that  the 
sarik'i  persuaded  them  to  bring  wood  and  water  and 
provisions  for  myself  and  the  carriers.  It  was 
clear  moonlight  when  I  retired  to  rest  within  the 
inner  hut,  with  my  more  personal  baggage 
arranged  round  the  walls,  and  my  tent,  provision- 
boxes,  &c.,  piled  in  the  outer  verandah.  The  night 
was  hot  and  steamy,  and  I  awoke  before  dawn  to 
find  that  the  moon  had  gone  down  and  left  the 
village  in  darkness.  As  soon  as  I  had  struck  a 
light  and  emerged  from  my  mosquito-net,  I  noticed 
that  two  of  my  boxes  were  missing — a  canvas  suit- 
case and  a  tin  uniform-case,  which  had  been  in 
place  near  the  door.  I  found  also  that  my  shirt 
and  bath  towel  had  disappeared  from  the  chair 
beside  my  bed,  while  from  the  verandah  there  were 
missing  my  sun  umbrella,  my  rifle,  and  six  bottles 
of  filtered  water  which  I  had  had  prepared  for  the 
next  day's  journey.  It  was  evident  that  some  one 
had  entered  my  hut  while  I  was  asleep  and  helped 
himself  to  a  selection  of  my  goods  ;  and,  as  it  hap- 
pened, the  two  cases  which  had  been  taken  were 
those  in  which  I  kept  all  the  useful  odds  and  ends 
which  add  so  much  to  one's  comfort  in  the  bush. 
The  suit-case  I  saw  presently  lying  outside  the 
door,  but  its  contents  had  been  rifled  and  a  number 
of  papers  and  letters  extracted,   while  there   was 

no  sign  of  my  large  aneroid,  which  it  had  been  my 

230 


On   the   Borders  of  Hausaland 

custom  to  leave  on  top  of  the  suit-case  during  the 
night.  My  first  thought  was  that  one  of  the 
carriers  whom  I  had  had  occasion  repeatedly  to 
reprimand,  had  decamped  during  the  night  with 
what  he  could  lay  hands  on,  for  the  articles  taken 
were  such  as  to  indicate  a  certain  amount  of 
familiarity  either  with  my  own  or  with  some  other 
white  man's  baggage,  I  therefore  called  up  the 
interpreter  and  headmen  and  had  all  the  carriers 
paraded  in  the  darkness,  but  none  of  them  was 
missing,  nor  were  any  of  the  stolen  articles  found 
in  their  possession.  I  next  summoned  the  sariki, 
and,  having  explained  to  him  that  what  had  hap- 
pened in  his  village  was  something  quite  unique 
in  my  experience  of  the  Protectorate,  ordered  him 
to  call  out  all  his  people  into  the  square  before 
me,  and  then  to  go  round  with  my  interpreter  and 
search  all  the  houses  for  any  trace  of  the  missing 
goods.  This  was  done,  the  villagers  collecting  sulkily 
in  a  group  before  me,  while  all  the  exits  were  watched 
and  the  houses  systematically  searched  as  soon  as 
daylight  dawned.  The  search  was  almost  com- 
pleted, and  apparently  to  no  purpose,  when  one 
of  my  men  came  up  to  say  that  he  had  found  my 
uniform-case  on  the  roadside  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  village.  Evidently,  therefore,  the  thief 
or  thieves  had  fled,  and  in  their  haste  discarded 
the  bulkiest  of  the  goods  which  they  had  appro- 
priated. I  dismissed  the  villagers  to  their  huts 
and  went  out  to  view  the  find.  The  box  had  been 
prized  open  with  a  stone,  but  its  contents  had  been 

only  partially  rifled,  the  thief  having  evidently  been 

231 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

disturbed    in    his    work.     The    books    and    papers 

which  it  had  contained,  were  strewn  on  the  sand 

around,  while  in  the  bottom  of  the  box,  safe  and 

undisturbed,   were  the   filter   candles   whose   loss    I 

had  been  deploring.     The  cupidity  of  the  thief  had 

apparently  been   attracted   by  my   small   medicine 

chest,  my  housewife,  and  several  small  inkpots  and 

packets   of  ribbons  and  tapes  and  balls   of  string 

and  a   few  gun   cartridges   which  happened  to  be 

on  top.      He  had  stupidly,  however,  overlooked  a 

number   of   rifle    bullets    which   would   have    fitted 

the  weapon  he  had  taken  and  which  were  now  no 

longer   of   any   use   to   me.      It    was   now   evident 

that  the  thief  had  disappeared,  and  that  there  would 

be  little  chance  of  finding  him  in  the  short  time 

at  my  disposal.     Nevertheless,  when  I  returned  to 

the  village   I   sent  off  messengers  to  all  the  bush 

villages   which  lay  in  the  direction  that   the  thief 

had  taken,  with  instructions  to  the  various  sarikis 

to  search  their  villages  and  keep  an  eye  on  every 

passing  stranger.     I  remained  at  Gadama  until  the 

afternoon,   in  the  hope  of  either  the  thief  or  the 

stolen  goods  or  both  being  found,  although  I  knew 

well  that  the  hope  was  a  forlorn  one.     It  is,  indeed, 

the   easiest  thing  in  the   world  for  a  native   thief 

to    disappear    in    the    bush    with    his    booty,    and 

especially  easy  in  a  country  where  the  people  are 

more  or  less  inclined  to  condone  the  offence  when 

it  is  committed  against  a  white  man.      I  could  do 

nothing,  therefore,  but  make  up  my  mind  to  my 

loss  and  to  wish  the  thief  joy  of  his  aneroid  and 

rifle,  his  medicine  chest,  and  his  half-dozen  bottles 

232 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

of  water.  The  latter  he  had  probably  taken  in 
the  belief  that  here  at  last  was  his  opportunity 
of  tasting  the  white  man's  plto,  and  I  could  almost 
imagine  the  look  of  disgust  which  would  mantle 
his  countenance  when  he  discovered  that  all  his 
trouble  and  daring  had  been  rewarded  by  nothing 
but  water. 

About  midday  the  makama  of  Fagam,  a  tall, 
good-looking,  quiet,  and  dignified  man,  with  two 
mounted  attendants,  rode  into  Gadama.  He  in- 
formed me  that  the  sarikin  Fagam,  the  overlord 
of  the  district,  having  heard  that  I  was  journeying 
towards  his  town,  had  ridden  out  that  morning 
to  meet  me,  but  meeting  my  messenger  instead,  who 
told  him  of  my  loss,  he  had  returned  to  Fagam 
and  sent  him,  the  makama,  forward  to  convey  his 
salutations  to  me  at  Gadama.  I  thanked  him,  and 
after  discussing  with  him  the  chances  of  the  re- 
covery of  my  goods,  which  he  agreed  were  small, 
I  asked  him  to  remain  in  the  village  until  I  was 
ready  to  go  and  then  accompany  me  himself  to 
Fagam.  This  he  did,  and  about  three  o'clock  we 
set  out  on  a  two  hours'  march  to  Fagam,  at  first 
over  a  stony  rise  behind  Gadama  and  then  along 
the  base  of  the  rocks  until  we  reached  an  open 
sandy  plain,  within  a  semicircle  of  hills,  upon  which 
the  town  was  built.  The  sariki,  an  old  man  and 
somewhat  feeble,  met  me  at  the  gate  and  conducted 
me  to  my  quarters  within  the  town,  which  appeared 
to  be  closely  built  and  thickly  populated.  He 
expressed  much  regret  at  the  misfortune  which  had 
befallen    me    in    his    country,    and    offered    to    do 

233 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

everything  in  his  power  to  recover  the  stolen 
goods. 

As  it  was  almost  dark  before  I  reached  Fagam 
I  saw  little  of  the  town,  and  next  morning  I  left 
early  for  Runga,  in  the  country  of  the  pagan 
Wurjawa,  which  lay  to  the  west,  across  the  border 
of  Bauchi  province.  The  makama  accompanied 
me  beyond  the  farms  and  rocks  of  Fagam  and 
through  a  stretch  of  thin  and  open  bush  until  we 
reached  a  small  pagan  settlement,  from  which  we 
obtained  a  guide  to  Runga.  The  path  led 
apparently  over  an  immense  undulating  plain,  but 
the  bush  obscured  the  view  and  rendered  the  journey 
both  tedious  and  uninteresting.  At  length,  how- 
ever, we  came  upon  the  rocks  and  farms  of  Wurji, 
with  many  pagan  settlements  amongst  the  boulders  ; 
and  presently  we  met  the  Government  courier,  who 
had  been  sent  here  by  the  Resident  of  Bauchi  to 
await  my  arrival  and  conduct  me  through  the  Ningi 
and  Bura  country  to  the  west,  which  had  only 
recently  been  brought  under  control.  The  Wurjawa 
pagans,  whose  country  we  had  now  reached,  were 
a  timid  and  primitive  race,  whose  huts  were 
scattered  in  twos  and  threes  amongst  the  rocks 
without  any  attempt  at  concentration  into  definite 
villages.  At  Runga,  the  name  of  a  particular 
section  of  their  country,  a  rest-camp  had  been 
formed,  and  here  we  halted  for  the  night,  while 
the  courier,  who  was  known  to  the  pagans,  did 
his  best  to  get  together  a  supply  of  provisions  for 
the  carriers'  evening  meal. 

Next  morning,  after  leaving  the  neighbourhood 

234 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

of  Wurji  we  entered  an  open  plain,  covered  with 
hard  and  cracked  clayey  soil,  which  evidently 
became  swampy  in  the  rains.  We  found  ourselves 
presently  on  the  bank  of  a  wide  and  sandy  river- 
bed, in  the  middle  of  which  at  this  season  a  narrow 
and  shallow  stream  represented  the  broad  sheet 
of  water  which  in  the  rains  would  cover  not  only 
the  river-bed  but  much  of  the  country  on  either 
bank.  Into  this  great  river,  with  the  help  of  many 
tributaries,  had  grown  the  Kogin  Delimi,  whose 
acquaintance  we  had  already  made  at  Naraguta,  on 
the  margin  of  the  Bauchi  plateau  to  the  south, 
where  its  sands  were  being  washed  for  tin.  Its 
farther  course  lay  northward  over  the  plains  of 
Katagum,  where  in  the  dry  season  its  waters  were 
lost  in  the  sandy  channel,  while  in  the  rains  the 
flood  ultimately  joined  the  Yo  and  went  to  swell 
the  waters  of  Lake  Chad.  We  rested  on  the  farther 
bank,  and  then  moved  on  through  thin  and  open 
bush  over  a  path  which  gradually  became  rough 
and  stony  until  the  hills  of  Ningi  and  the  rocks 
of  Tifh  came  in  sight. 

The  broken  country  which  is  designated  by  the 
name  of  the  Ningi  hills,  consists  of  an  extensive 
plateau-like  mass  of  granite,  elongated  in  an  east 
and  west  direction,  with  a  broken  and  hummocky 
but  approximately  level  summit,  and  bounded  by 
steep  and  precipitous  slopes  all  round,  the  margin 
of  the  mass  being  much  indented  and  incised  by 
narrow  valleys.  From  the  base  of  the  southern 
and  eastern  slopes,  the  thinly  wooded  plains 
of   Bauchi   stretch   outward  towards   the   valley  of 

235 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  Delimi,  while  on  the  north  and  west  the  plains 
of  Kano  and  of  Zaria  run  close  up  to  the  foot 
of  the  hills.  This  rocky  mass  of  the  Ningi  hills, 
therefore,  forms  an  immense  natural  stronghold  in 
the  middle  of  the  plains,  a  fortress  which  has  been 
peopled  from  the  earliest  times  by  warlike  indi- 
genous tribes.  The  Hausa  and  Fulani  hordes  in 
turn  spread  over  the  surrounding  plains,  but  the 
conquering  armies  were  never  able  to  scale  the 
rocky  heights  and  capture  the  pagan  citadels  on 
top.  To  the  white  man,  however,  with  modern 
methods  and  modern  weapons,  this  proved  an  easy 
task,  and  after  the  taking  of  Ningi  itself,  in  1904, 
the  other  towns  and  tribes  wisely  decided  to  bow 
to  the  inevitable  and  accept  the  overlordship  of 
the   foreigner. 

In  the  intervals  of  conflict  with  the  peoples  of 
the  plains,  these  tribesmen  of  the  hills  were  accus- 
tomed to  relieve  the  monotony  of  their  existence 
by  internal  w^ars,  and  in  course  of  time  the 
rocky  mass  had  become  divided  into  three  inde- 
pendent sections — an  eastern  portion  under  the 
leadership  of  the  king  of  Ari,  a  central  portion 
under  the  king  of  Ningi,  and  a  western  portion 
under  the  king  of  Bura.  The  three  states  of  xA-ri, 
Ningi,  and  Bura  were  constantly  struggling  for 
supremacy,  and  for  long  the  central  state  of  Ningi 
was  predominant.  Just  before  the  advent  of  the 
white  man,  however,  a  warrior  king  arose  in  Bura, 
who  extended  the  boundary  of  his  state  eastward 
almost  to  the  walls  of  Ningi  and  northward  for  a 

day's   journey   over  the   plains   of  Kano.      At   the 

236 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

time  of  my  visit,  therefore,  Ningi  was  not  only 
suffering  under  the  eclipse  of  its  former  greatness, 
but  it  alone  had  had  the  misfortune  of  coming 
into  contact  with  the  British  arms,  while  the  neigh- 
bouring states  had  been  wise  enough  to  come  to 
terms  and  avoid  a  direct  trial  of  strength. 

The  town  of  Tiffi,  at  which  we  had  now  arrived, 
was  the  second  town  in  the  state  of  Ari,  and  built 
in  a  semicircular  bay  in  the  margin  of  the  hills. 
Here  I  was  received  by  the  sarikin  Ari  and  his 
headmen,  who  had  travelled  to  Tiffi  that  morning 
on  purpose  to  meet  me.  All  were  gaudily  dressed 
in  turbans  and  gowns,  and  wore  an  evident  air 
of  prosperity.  They  gave  me,  moreover,  a  very 
cordial  reception,  and  did  everything  in  their  power 
to  make  me  comfortable  during  the  few  hours  that 
I  rested  in  the  runfa  which  they  had  erected  for 
my  use.  In  the  afternoon  we  moved  on  to  Ari 
along  the  base  of  the  hills,  the  sarlki  riding  on 
ahead  to  see  that  everything  was  ready  for  me 
in  the  rest-camp.  Ari  itself  is  a  large  and  scattered 
town,  uniquely  fortified  by  Nature,  built,  like 
Tiffi,  within  a  bay  in  the  margin  of  the  rocky  mass 
behind,  but  protected  in  front  by  a  barrier  ridge 
of  rock,  through  a  narrow  opening  in  which,  easily 
blocked  when  necessary,  the  path  leads  to  the  town 
within.  The  rest-camp  was  delightfully  situated 
outside  the  barrier  underneath  a  number  of  large 
and  shady  trees,  and  the  sarlki  spared  no  pains  in 
the  entertainment  of  his  guests. 

Next  morning  we  set  out  for  Ningi,  the  sarlkln 
Ari  accompanying  me  to  the  boundary  of  his  terri- 

237 


On   Horseback  through   Nigeria 

tory,  where  a  mountain  stream  crossed  our  path. 
The  road  ran  close  to  the  base  of  the  hills  and 
past  the  villages  of  Tuluka  and  Sabon  Gari,  and 
then  up  a  long  and  narrow  valley,  which  had  been 
cut  backward  into  the  rocky  mass  behind.  On 
the  skyline  above,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  valley, 
could  be  seen  a  few  huts,  which  marked  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town  of  Ningi.  As  we  approached, 
in  full  view  of  the  people  on  the  rocks  above, 
I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  see  no  sign  of  the 
sarikin  Ningi,  who  ought  to  have  ridden  out  to 
conduct  me  to  his  town.  Presently,  however,  we 
met  a  small  party  of  the  townspeople  on  foot  in 
worn  and  dirty  gowns,  who  proved  to  be  the 
galadima  and  some  of  the  other  chiefs  who  had 
walked  out  to  welcome  me.  They  explained  that 
the  sarikin  Ningi  had  been  summoned  to  Bauchi 
on  urgent  business  by  the  Resident,  and  was  there- 
fore unable  to  receive  me  in  person.  They,  how- 
ever, had  been  deputed  to  do  the  honours,  and  at 
pnce  turned  and  led  the  way  to  the  rest-cam'p, 
iwhich  was  situated  about  half-way  up  the  valley. 
My  men  had  considerable  difficulty  in  finding  water 
near  the  camp  at  this  season,  and  I  had  therefore  to 
ask  the  galadima  to  send  down  a  plentiful  supply 
from  the  town  above,  where  there  were  a  number 
of  springs  amongst  the  boulders.  I  intimated  to 
the  galadima  also  my  intention  of  visiting  Lumbu, 
on  the  northern  margin  of  the  mass,  and  asked 
him  to  have  the  necessary  guides  ready  as  I  passed 
through  the  town  at  dawn. 

I   awoke  at   cock-crow,  and,  having  called  the 

238 


On  the   Borders  of  Hausaland 

carriers,  set  out  in  the  first  place  for  the  town 
above.  After  passing  the  remains  of  the  double 
walls  which  formerly  barred  the  approach  from  the 
valley,  and  climbing  the  short  but  steep  ascent  at 
its  head,  we  entered  the  town,  and  found  that  the 
greater  number  of  the  huts  were  situated  over  the 
brow  of  the  hill  in  an  irregular,  saucer-shaped  de- 
pression on  the  summit.  The  sarlkis  house  was 
the  only  pretentious  building  in  the  town,  and  near 
it  v/e  found  the  galadima  waiting  with  the  guides. 
It  was  still  early  and  the  morning  was  chill  and 
cold,  and  the  inhabitants  were  only  beginning  to 
stir,  and  from  what  we  could  see  of  them  they 
appeared  to  be  poorly  and  even  primitively  clad. 
Our  road  led  through  the  scattered  groups  of  huts, 
out  through  the  western  gate,  and  over  the  broken 
summit  of  the  granite  plateau,  cleared  and  culti- 
vated in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  town  and  covered 
with  thin  and  open  bush  beyond.  We  rested 
amongst  the  farms  of  Sammo,  and  then  we  entered 
a  tract  of  country  which  gradually  became  rougher 
and  more  stony  until  we  reached  a  steep  and  rocky 
descent  leading  from  the  plateau  above  to  the 
bottom  of  a  narrow  valley,  cut  back  into  the  margin 
of  the  hills,  at  the  entrance  to  which  was  set  the 
half -deserted  village  of  Lumbu.  Here  we  camped 
for  the  night,  the  few  inhabitants  that  were  left 
doing  their  best  to  supply  a  scanty  meal  for  the 
carriers . 

We  left  Lumbu  by  the  narrow  gorge  which  the 
river  had  cut  in  the  outer  fringe  of  hills,  and  took 
the  path  which  led  westward  to  Beshe  along  the 

239 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

broken  plain  at  a  little  distance  from  the  margin 
of  the  plateau.  Soon  we  entered  the  Bura  country, 
and  presently  we  met  a  mounted  messenger  from 
Ari,  who  informed  me  that  the  sarikin  Ari  had 
descended  to  Beshe  that  morning  and  was  now  on 
his  way  through  the  bush  to  meet  me  and  conduct 
me  in  person  to  his  capital.  In  another  hour  we 
heard  in  the  distance  the  sound  of  tru^lpets  and 
drums,  which  heralded  the  approach  of  the  sarlki, 
and  presently  the  royal  cavalcade  came  in  sight. 
I  stopped  my  party  in  a  little  clearing  in  the  bush 
and  waited  for  the  warrior  king,  whom  I  had  seen 
dismounting  and  approaching  on  foot.  He  was 
a  short,  thick-set  personage,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
with  well-cut  features,  a  short  beard,  and  a  pleasant 
countenance.  His  head  was  encased  in  a  large 
turban,  covered  with  leathern  charms  and  leopards' 
teeth,  and  from  his  shoulders  there  hung  a  green 
silk  embroidered  cloak,  which  he  wore  with  con- 
siderable dignity,  and  which  served  also  to  cover 
the  ample  folds  of  a  somewhat  grimy  gown  beneath. 
As  he  approached  he  smiled  pleasantly  and  shook 
his  raised  fists  in  greeting,  as  he  gave  me  the  Hausa 
"welcome/'  Mar  aba!  maraba!  maraba!''  He  then 
bowed  to  the  ground  in  token  of  allegiance,  and 
asked  my  interpreter  to  offer  me  the  cordial 
welcome  of  himself  and  of  his  people.  The  sarikl 
and  his  retainers  then  remounted  and  led  the  way 
to  Beshe.  The  two  mounted  trumpeters  went  first, 
making  the  bush  resound  with  their  lusty  blasts  ; 
then  two  mounted  drummers,  guiding  their  horses 

with  their  knees  and  beating  vigorously  on   their 

240 


On  the  Borders  of  Hausaland 

drums  on  either  side ;  then  the  sarikl,  resplendent 
in  his  green  silk  cloak,  followed  by  four  horse- 
boys in  short  kilted  rigas  and  equipped  with  red 
blankets,  neatly  rolled  and  slung  over  the  left 
shoulder.  Then  came  the  courtiers,  in  cloaks  and 
gowns  of  many  colours,  attended  by  their  favourite 
slaves  on  foot,  while  sometimes  in  front  and  some- 
times behind  rode  the  court  jester  or  crier,  dressed 
in  a  tight-fitting  suit  of  red,  shouting  the  praises 
of  his  lord  and  master  and  of  his  honoured  guest 
until  the  trees  re-echoed  with  his  voice.  It  was 
a  scene  of  barbaric  splendour,  a  page  from  a 
mediaeval  romance,  and  behind  came  the  incon- 
gruous khaki-clad  Briton,  with  his  twentieth- 
century  equipment  carried  by  porters  for  whom 
it  was  difficult  to  find  a  setting  in  either  the  old  or 
the  new  regime. 

We  stopped  to  rest  during  the  heat  of  the  day 
at  Beshe,  a  place  of  considerable  size  at  the  base 
of  the  hills,  where  an  excellent  rest-camp  had  been 
built,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  moved  on  in  the 
sajne  order  to  Bura,  on  the  plains  above.  The 
active  ponies  of  the  country  people  scrambled 
dexterously  up  the  steep  and  rocky  rise,  while  my 
heavier  animal  panted  behind.  Bura  we  found  to 
be  a  large  and  scattered  town  built  on  a  sort  of 
platform  facing  the  southern  plains  and  backed  by 
a  rocky  ridge.  The  huts  were  small  and  poor,  and 
even  the  sarlkVs  compound  was  indistinguishable 
from  the  others.  The  majority  of  the  people  were 
very  primitively  clad,  the  men  being  dressed  only 

ill  a  kind  of  leathern  apron  and  the  women  in  leaves . 

241  Q 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

The  contrast,  indeed,  was  most  marked  between 
the  unpretentious  character  of  the  town  and  of  the 
common  people,  and  the  gaudy  splendour  of  the 
chiefs  and  the  magnificence  of  my  welcome.  The 
rest -camp,  however,  was  large  and  roomy,  and  the 
sariki  proved  a  most  hospitable  host,  sending  out 
abundant  supplies  of  both  necessaries  and  delicacies 
for  myself  and  for  the  carriers. 

We  left  Bura  on  the  following  morning  to  return 
to  Ningi  along  the  southern  margin  of  the  hills  ; 
and  for  the  first  hour  the  sariki  and  his  chiefs 
accompanied  me,  with  the  same  ceremony  as  before. 
We  then  parted,  with  many  expressions  of  goodwill 
on  either  side  and  the  oft-repeated  request  on  the 
part  of  the  sariki  that  I  should  return  again  soon 
and  become  his  guest  for  a  longer  period.  The 
road  then  led  over  very  rough  and  stony  country 
along  the  base  of  the  hills  until  we  reached  Somma, 
(where  we  camped  for  the  night,  continuing  the 
journey  on  the  following  day  over  similar  broken 
and  uninteresting  country,  through  Dua  to  Keffin 
Fulani,  in  the  Ningi  country.  Here  I  camped 
beside  a  running  stream,  and  next  morning  climbed 
the  steep  ascent  to  the  upper  plains  of  Ningi. 
From  Ningi  we  retraced  our  steps  by  way  of  Ari 
and  Tiffi  to  Runga,  in  the  Wurjawa  country,  whence 
it  was  now  my  intention  to  cross  into  Kano  province 
and  visit  the  great  cities  of  the  plains  of  Hausaland. 


242 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE  PLAINS   OF   HAUSALAND 

*'  TJie  war  drums  throbb'd  no  longet 
And  tJu  battle  flags  were  furPd." 

Entering  Hausaland — The  old  king  of  Jemaari — An  ancient  desert 
surface — Katagum  and  Hadeija — On  the  way  to  Kano — 
Comfortable  travelling — History  of  Kano  and  of  the  Fulani 
conquest — The  British  occupation — The  capture  of  Kano — 
Kano  in  1909 — A  rumour  of  insurrection — Departure  for 
Kazaure — On  the  way  to  Katsina — Cordial  welcomes — An 
unpleasant  experience — Pagan  Hausas — Through  Fulani 
country — Recent  history  of  Sokoto — The  old  city  of  Wurnu — 
The  valley  of  the  Sokoto  River. 

Our  path  now  led  northward  from  the  settlements 
of  the  Wurjawa  to  the  town  of  Kila,  on  the  frontier 
of  Hausaland,  and  as  we  turned  our  backs  on 
Bauchi  and  crossed  for  the  last  time  the  sandy 
bed  of  the  river  which  drew  its  headwaters  from 
the  summit  of  the  plateau,  I  thought  of  all  the 
varied  tribes  and  scenes  which  I  had  witnessed 
in  the  province — of  the  Hausas  and  Fulani  of  the 
plains,  of  the  naked  dwellers  on  the  plateau,  of  the 
twin  cones  of  Kereng,  of  the  cliffs  of  Kanna  and 
Gateri,  of  the  Wase  Rock  on  its  southern  margin, 

243 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

of  the  Peak  of  Tangale  and  the  broad  smile  of 
the  galadima  Ture,  of  the  Gongola  and  the  Bima 
hills,  of  the  ruins  of  Burmi,  and  of  the  resplendent 
warrior  chief  of  Bura,  lording  it  over  his  savage 
hordes.  To  the  north  lay  the  plains  of  Hausa- 
land,  peopled  with  a  virile  race,  studded  with  cities 
and  towns  and  villages,  teeming  with  busy  life  and 
picturesque  in  their  Mohammedan  civilisation  ;  and 
yet  I  knew  that  with  common  customs  and  common 
habits  over  the  length  and  the  breadth  of  the  plains, 
much  of  the  variety  would  have  disappeared  for 
the  passing  traveller,  and  much  of  the  contrast 
would  have  gone  from  the  picture  when  the 
primitive  pagan  and  the  follower  of  the  Prophet 
were  no  longer  to  be  found  in  close  proximity, 
the  one  in  his  rocky  stronghold  and  the  other  in 
his  walled  city  on  the  plain  below. 

We  had  left  the  rocks  of  Wurji  and  crossed  the 
sandy  river-bed,  and  were  making  our  way  over 
the  cracked  and  gaping  surface  of  the  flood  plain 
of  the  river,  when  our  attention  was  pleasantly 
arrested  by  a  clear  and  placid  lake  which  curved 
round  the  rocky  base  of  a  low  granite  kopje. 
Presently  the  rocks  of  Kila  came  in  sight,  towards 
which  the  path  now  led  over  an  open  sandy  plain 
and  through  the  scattered  village  of  Sokwa  ;  and 
thence  through  a  narrow  pass  between  two  rounded 
granite  domes  to  the  town  of  Kila,  which  was 
situated  at  the  base  of  the  northern  slopes,  front- 
ing the  open  plain.  From  the  summit  of  a  ridge 
beside  my  camp  I  could  see  far  away  to  the  east, 

over  the  undulating  wooded  plains  and  the  shallow 

244 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

valley  of  the  river,  the  rocks  of  Fagam  to  the 
right  and  those  of  Shira  to  the  left.  Northward 
and  westward,  however,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
see  there  was  nothing  but  the  boundless  plain, 
without  a  single  granite  dome  or  kopje  or  even 
a  heap  of  boulders  to  diversify  the  scene. 

Early  next  morning  we  set  out  on  our  march 
to  Katagum  across  the  monotonous  plains.  Towns 
and  villages  being  fairly  numerous,  we  passed 
through  an  alternation  of  cleared  and  cultivated 
land,  with  stretches  of  thin  and  open  bush.  The 
people  were  of  a  mixed  Hausa  and  Fulani  stock, 
congregated  at  times  in  ancient  Hausa  towns,  with 
dilapidated  and  weathered  walls,  at  times  in  recent 
Fulani  settlements  open  to  the  plain.  Each  day 
as  we  moved  northward  I  sent  a  messenger  ahead 
to  intimate  my  coming,  and  at  each  town  and 
village  that  we  passed  the  sariki  and  his  headmen 
were  waiting  to  receive  me  on  the  outskirts  of  the 
farms.  Wherever  we  camped,  moreover,  we  found 
a  runfa  erected  for  my  use  and  quarters  arranged 
for  the  carriers.  Supplies  also  appeared  to  be 
abundant  and  the  people  everywhere  happy  and 
contented.  Water,  however,  at  this  season  was 
somewhat  scarce,  and  what  there  was  of  it  was 
very  earthy  and  frequently  full  of  soda.  On  the 
second  night  after  leaving  Kila  we  camped  at 
Jemaari,  a  large  and  well-walled  town,  and  the 
former  capital  of  a  semi-independent  kingdom.  Its 
chief,  who  had  been  a  great  warrior  and  slave-raider 
in  his  day,  had  now  grown  old  and  corpulent ;  but, 
anxious  to  do  honour  to  the  white  man,  he  mounted 

245 


On  Horseback  through   Xio-eria 

hastily  at  my  approach  and  rode  out  to  meet  me 
with  a  troop  of  gaily  dressed  attendants.  The  old 
warrior  leaned  heavily  on  the  shoulders  of  his  slaves 
as  he  dismounted  to  salute  me  ;  and  again  as  he 
remounted  he  required  the  assistance  of  their 
stronger  arms.  Nothing,  however,  could  have 
surpassed  the  cordiality  of  his  welcome  or  the 
hospitality  with  which  he  entertained  myself  and 
the  carriers  with  the  best  he  could  provide. 

Northward  from  Jemaari,  across  the  imdulating 
plains,  lay  Itas,  another  well  walled  town,  where 
we  camped  for  the  night  outside  the  w-estem  gate. 
Beyond  Itas  there  was  much  loose  sand  on  the 
road  :  and  in  places  it  seemed  to  have  been  at 
some  former  time  raised  up  into  a  series  of  low 
extended  ridges,  now  covered  with  grass  and  trees, 
and  scoarated  by  bare  and  level  fiats.  The  whole 
appearance  of  the  coimtry,  indeed,  was  suggestive 
of  an  ancient  desert  surface,  with  sand-dunes  tixed 
by  a  scanty  vegetation.  After  a  long  and  tedious 
march,  we  at  length  reached  the  hamlets  of  Murmur, 
a  village  familiar  by  name  from  its  being  the  death - 
place  of  Dr.  Oudney  in  1824,  whence  we  set  out 
very  early  on  the  following  morning,  and  accom- 
plished the  remainder  of  the  journey  to  Katagum 
before  the  heat  of  the  day  became  excessive. 

In  the  days  of  Barth  and  up  to  the  time  of  the 

British  occupation,  Katagum  was  the  capital  of  a 

province  of  the  Fulani  empire  of  Sokoto  ;    but  after 

the  fall  of  Kano  in    1903,  the  Emir  of  Kata^m 

and  the  neighbouring  Emir  of  Hadeija  voluntarily 

offered    their    submission    to    the    British,    and    a 

246 


The   Plains   of  Hausaland 

Resident  and  a  small  garrison  were  esiablished  at 
Katagum  towards  the  close  of  the  same  year  to 
administer  the  whole  district.  There  proved  to  be, 
however,  much  latent  dissatisfaction  amongst  the 
fanatic  Fulani  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  in  time  the 
chiefs  of  Hadeija  developed  such  an  insolent  spirit 
that  in  1906  it  became  necessary  to  despatch  a 
punitive  expedition  against  the  town.  After  a  sharp 
encounter  their  resistance  was  broken  and  Hadeija 
subdued,  while  the  headmen  of  Katagimi,  who  had 
failed  at  the  critical  moment  to  support  their 
friends,  maintained  a  strictly  correct  attitude  and 
again  professed  lip-loyalty  to  British  rule. 

Katagum  is  a  large,  closely-buUt,  and  populous 
town  surrounded  by  a  high  and  well-kept  wall  and 
picturesquely  shaded  by  many  palms.  It  is  built 
on  a  stretch  of  sandy  rising  ground  in  the  midst 
of  clayey  shallows  which  become  almost  impassable 
swamps  in  the  rains.  The  town  itself,  with  its 
medley  of  thatched  and  flat -roofed  buildings,  wears 
a  certain  air  of  prosperity ;  but  the  countrv'  around 
is  poor  and  sparingly  inhabited,  the  people  ha^-ing 
suffered  much  from  the  extortion  of  their  former 
Fulani  rulers.  The  disaffection  which  long  existed 
in  the  province  had  also  an  unsettling  effect  upon 
the  population  :  but,  since  the  final  overthrow  of 
Fulani  ambition,  the  people  have  begun  to  return 
to  the  land,  without  the  constant  fear  of  the  oppres- 
sive taxation  of  the  fruits  of  their  labour  which 
formerly  daunted  and  discouraged  the  most  in- 
dustrious of  husbandmen. 

From  Katag^j-m  to  Kano  is  an  easy  eighr  days' 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

march,  and  rest-houses  have  been  established  along 
the  road  at  convenient  intervals  for  travellers.  The 
scenery  on  the  way  is  particularly  uninteresting,  the 
country  consisting  merely  of  an  immense  undulating 
plain,  bare  and  treeless,  or  parklike  and  cultivated 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  villages,  and  elsewhere 
covered  only  with  a  thin  scrubby  bush.  The  road 
leads  over  an  endless  succession  of  loose  sandy 
stretches,  alternating  with  firm  and  smooth  surfaces 
of  sandy  clay,  or  with  shallow  hollows  of  desiccated 
swamp,  hard  and  dark  and  cracked  like  the  firki 
of  Bornu.  In  places  the  swampy  hollows  contain 
pools  of  standing  water,  sometimes  of  consider- 
able size,  while  in  the  rains  all  of  them  become 
temporary  lakes  of  greater  or  less  extent.  Near 
Koya  a  remarkable  rounded  ridge  of  loose  yellow 
sand  crosses  the  road,  covered  with  grass  and 
scattered  trees,  and  evidently  an  immense  solitary 
dune  which,  with  the  numerous  lower  undulations 
of  loose  sand  following  each  other  in  succession 
across  the  country,  bears  witness  to  the  former 
prevalence  of  desert  conditions  over  these  northern 
states.  Near  Ringim  we  crossed  the  broad  and 
shallow  valley  of  the  Kogin  Hadeija,  with  a  narrow 
stream  in  the  middle  representing  the  wide  river 
of  the  rains.  Our  stages  in  the  march  from 
Katagum  were  respectively  Kwotolu,  Keffin  Hausa, 
Miga,  Dare,  Ringim,  and  Wangara,  some  of  them 
small  and  poor  and  unimportant  villages,  others 
large  and  prosperous  towns.  At  each  place  a  clean 
and  spacious  rest-house  was  available  for  my  use, 
with  kitchen  adjoining  and  huts  for  the  boys,  while 

248 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

the  sariki  or  his  representative  brought  out  wood 

and   water   and   provisions   immediately   upon   my 

arrival  and  made  arrangements  for  the  housing  of 

the    carriers    within    the    town.      I    could    not    but 

contrast  the  ease  and  comfort  with  which  I  travelled 

through   this    western   portion   of   the   province    of 

Kano    with   the    trials    and   troubles    which    Barth 

experienced    on    his    journey    through    the    same 

region.     At  each  camping-place  a  house,  reserved 

for  the  use  of  Europeans  only,  was  ready  for  my 

occupation  ;    the  local  sariki  was  eager  to  gratify 

my  slightest  wish  without  prospect  of  reward  ;    my 

meals  were  prepared  by  a  skilful  native  cook,  and 

served     after     European     fashion     by     dexterous 

steward   boys ;    my    baggage    was    transported    by 

reliable  carriers  and  headmen,  while  my  dress  and 

equipment  were  thoroughly  European  and  my  boxes 

contained  many  dainties  and  delicacies  wherewith 

to    vary    the    kaza,    kwoi,    dankali,    and    mandara 

(fowls,   eggs,   sweet  potatoes,  milk)  of  my  native 

hosts.      And  yet  only  fifty  years   ago   Barth  had 

written  :— "  I   was   astonished  as   well   as   ashamed 

at   the   comfort   which  my  African   [Arab]   friend 

displayed,     ordering    one    of    the    attendants    to 

bring   into   his    presence   a   basket   which   seemed 

to  be  under  the   special   protection  of  the   latter, 

and    drawing    forth    from    it    a    variety    of    well- 

baked    pastry,    which    he    spread    on    a    napkin 

before    us,    while    another   of   the   attendants    was 

boiling  the  coffee.     The  barbarian  and  the  civilised 

European  seemed  to  have  changed  places  ;    and  in 

order  to  contribute  something  to  our  repast  I  went 

249 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

to  the  market  and  bought  a  couple  of  young  onions  ! 
Really  it  is  incredible  what  a  European  traveller 
in  these  countries  has  to  endure ;  for  while  he 
must  bear  infinitely  more  fatigue,  anxiety,  and 
mental  exertion  than  any  native  traveller,  he  is 
deprived  of  even  the  little  comfort  which  the 
country  affords — has  no  one  to  cook  his  supper, 
and  to  take  care  of  him  when  he  falls  sick  : — 

'"And,  ah!   no  wife  or  mother's  care 
For  him  the  milk  or  corn  prepare.'" 

Times  indeed  have  changed  :    and  now  a  European 

would    no    more    think    of    eating    and    drinking 

familiarly  with  an  Arab  trader  than  he  would  of 

dressing  in   Mohammedan  robes,  of  sleeping  like 

a  native  in  a  blanket  on  a  plank,  of  buying  his  own 

provisions,   or  of  eating  the   half-cooked  food  of 

the  natives  I 

The    change,    however,    is    due    directly   to    the 

change  in  the  political  situation.      In  the  days  of 

Barth,   the   European   traveller   had   to   go   hat   in 

hand  to  the  native   governor,   sue  for  his   favour 

by  means  of  costly  and  valuable  presents,  and  wait 

his    pleasure   for   permission   to   travel    hither   and 

thither  within  his  province  or  visit  a  neighbouring 

state.      But  now  by  right  of   conquest  the   white 

man's  word  is   law,   his   favour   is   sought  by  the 

former  rulers  of  the  land,  and  there  is  no  one  to 

gainsay    his    desire    to    travel    wherever    he    lists 

throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Hausaland 

or   of  the   pagan  regions  beyond. 

We    were   now   approaching   the    city   of    Kano, 

250 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

the  great  metropolis  of  Hausaland,  to  visiting 
which  I  had  been  looking  forward  with  eager 
anticipation  for  many  a  weary  day.  And  as  we 
traversed  the  broad  and  sandy  road  which  led 
westward  from  Wangara,  I  thought  of  the 
chequered  history  of  the  mighty  city  which  was 
once  the  queen  of  Hausaland.  I  thought  of  the 
original  inhabitants  of  the  land,  who  in  pagan 
fashion  had  dwelt  on  the  summit  and  slopes  of 
Mount  Dala  and  cultivated  the  open  plain  around 
its  base.  I  thought  of  the  migration  of  the  Hausa 
hordes  from  the  northern  deserts  to  the  fertile 
southern  plains,  of  the  expulsion  or  extinction  of 
the  primitive  people  of  Dala,  of  the  founding  of  the 
seven  Hausa  states,  of  the  acceptance  of  Moham- 
medanism by  all  but  Gober,  of  the  wars  and 
counter-wars  between  the  states  themselves,  and 
of  the  domination  of  Kano  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
Then  came  the  decline  of  Kano,  the  rise  of  Katsina, 
the  peaceful  penetration  of  Hausaland  by  the  Fulani 
herdsmen,  and  in  the  eighteenth  century  the 
ultimate  supremacy  of  the  pagan  state  of  Gober, 
which  led  directly  to   the   Fulani   conquest. 

"  The  history  of  the  Fulani  conquest  of  the 
Hausa  states  ...  is  comparatively  well  known. 
The  country  was  already  permeated  with  Fulani 
influence.  Cow  Fulani  fed  their  cattle  in  every 
province.  The  principal  towns  had  their  Fulani 
quarters ;  Fulani  teachers  had  for  six  hundred 
years  spread  the  doctrines  of  Mohammed ;  dis- 
tinguished members  of  the  Fulani  race  occupied 
high    places    as    councillors,    judges,    high    priests 

251 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

and  men-of-war.  ...  It  was  not,  however,  till  the 
opening  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  the 
military  and  political  conquest  was  completed. 
...  At  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  still 
pagan  state  of  Gober  had  established  a  military 
ascendancy  over  the  more  northerly  Mohammedan 
states  of  Hausaland.  It  had  conquered  Zamfara 
and  subdued  Kano.  Katsina  alone  had  been  able 
successfully  to  resist  its  power.  Throughout  this 
period  the  Fulani  would  seem  to  have  greatly  in- 
creased in  numbers  in  Gober,  and  under  their  own 
chiefs  and  religious  teachers  they  began  to  form 
a  community  of  which  the  independent  doctrines 
gave  offence  to  the  pagan  authorities.  In  the  year 
1802,  the  King  Bawa  sent  for  their  Imaum,  Othman 
dan  Fodio,  and  all  the  principal  Fulani  chiefs,  and 
administered  a  severe  public  reprimand  on  account 
of  the  religious  and  political  pretensions  that  they 
were  beginning  to  put  forward.  This  was  but  a 
spark  to  the  tinder.  Indignation  spread  through 
the  Fulani  community  at  the  insult  which  had  been 
offered  to  their  chiefs.  Othman  dan  Fodio  inflamed 
the  general  sentiment  by  his  preaching,  in  which 
he  urged  the  Fulani  to  submit  no  longer  to  the 
yoke  of  a  pagan  people.  The  Fulani  chiefs  raised 
the  standard  of  revolt ;  Othman  was  elected  sheikh, 
and  under  his  leadership  a  Holy  War  was  declared. 
.  .  .  Through  the  rest  of  Hausaland,  where  the 
towns  were  already  half  in  Fulani  hands,  the  con- 
quest of  the  Fulani  spread  rapidly.  Zanfara  was 
conquered  in  the  first  year  of  the  war  ;    Zaria  was 

either  conquered,  or  allied  itself  with  the  conquerors, 

252 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

within  a  month  of  the  submission  of  Zanfara.  The 
conquest  of  Kano  shortly  followed  ;  Katsina  was 
taken  in  1807;  and  in  1808  the  victorious  arms 
of  the  Fulani  were  carried  into  Bornu,  where  they 
were  met  and  successfully  resisted  by  the  Sheikh 
el  Kanemi."  »  The  son  of  Othman  dan  Fodio,  the 
Sultan  BellO;,  founded  as  his  capital  the  new  town 
of  Sokoto  and  extended  and  consolidated  the 
empire.  He  was  an  able  and  upright  adminis- 
trator, and  under  his  rule  even  the  conquered 
Hausas  were  happy  and  contented,  while  his  armies 
were  instructed  to  spread  the  true  faith  and  convert 
the  pagans  to  Islam.  After  his  death,  however, 
the  ruling  classes  rapidly  became  corrupt,  and  "  a 
domination  which  had  been  established  in  the  name 
of  religion  and  justice  fell  into  tyranny,  tempered 
only  by  the  weakness  or  the  moderation  of  personal 
rulers.  ...  It  was  found  more  profitable  to 
leave  the  pagans  in  a  condition  in  which  it  was 
lawful  to  make  slaves  and  to  exact  tribute,  and 
Fulani  wars  degenerated  into  little  more  than  slave - 
raiding  expeditions."  Even  in  the  days  of  Barth 
"  the  behaviour  of  the  ruling  class  was  certainly 
haughty,  and  there  was,  no  doubt,  a  great  deal  of 
injustice  inflicted  in  small  matters,"  while  robbers 
infested  the  country  along  the  main  trade  routes 
and  attacked  unprotected  merchants  and  caravans. 
But  after  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  condition 
of  affairs  rapidly  went  from  bad  to  worse.  Justice 
was  bought  and  sold,  and  an  equitable  decision  of 
any  case  could  only  be  arrived  at  by  heavy  bribery. 

*  "  A  Tropical  Dependency,"  by  Lady  Lugard. 
253 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Extortion  and  excessive  taxation  became  the  order 
of  the  day.  New  taxes  and  new  regulations  were 
imposed  at  the  will  of  each  new  ruler,  and  any 
resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  emirs  or  their 
favourite  slaves  was  visited  with  the  most  inhuman 
punishments.  Commerce  and  agriculture  groaned 
under  the  heavy  burden  of  excessive  and  ever- 
increasing  taxation.  Unrest  and  discontent 
simmered  beneath  the  surface,  and  the  spirit 
of  revolt  was  held  in  check  only  by  the  iron  hand 
of  the  autocratic  Fulani. 

Such  was  the  internal  condition  of  the  states 
when,  towards  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
at  the  time  of  the  scramble  for  Africa  amongst 
the  European  Powers,  the  decadent  rulers  of 
Hausaland  had  placed  themselves  nominally  under 
the  protection  of,  and  in  some  cases  had  accepted 
a  subsidy  from.  Great  Britain,  and  had  entered 
willingly  by  treaty  into  certain  obligations  which 
they  undertook  to  observe.  The  practice  of  raiding 
the  pagans  for  slaves  had  meanwhile  become  the 
common  amusement  of  the  Fulani  emirs,  who  even 
caught  and  sold  numbers  of  the  peasantry  of  their 
own  provinces  with  the  object  of  replenishing  their 
exchequers.  On  some  of  their  slaving  expeditions 
they  came  into  contact  with  the  British,  who  had 
already  assumed  the  protection  of  the  riverine 
gagans  ;  and  upon  the  declaration  in  1900  of  a 
protectorate  over  the  whole  of  Northern  Nigeria, 
the  rulers  of  the  northern  states  were  called  upon 
to  observe  the  terms  of  their  treaties,  to  desist  from 
their  practice  of  slave-raiding  and  throw  open  the 

254 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

main  roads  to  peaceful  traders.  Insulting  replies 
were  for  the  most  part  sent  to  the  British  repre- 
sentations, while  the  Sarikin  Muslimln  of  Sokoto 
expressly  repudiated  his  treaty  obligations  and 
declared  that  a  state  of  war  existed  between  him 
and  Great  Britain.  It  became  necessary,  there- 
fore, to  despatch  expeditions  against  each  of  the 
states  in  turn.  Kontagora,  Nupe,  Bauchi,  Yola, 
Nassarawa  and  Zaria  were  in  turn  subdued  ;  and 
then  early  in  1903  an  expeditionary  force  of  one 
thousand  native  infantry  and  fifty  Europeans  was 
concentrated  at  Zaria  for  the  advance  upon  Kano 
and  Sokoto. 

"  The  first  opposition  was  encountered  at  a  walled 
town  eight  miles  within  the  Kano  frontier,  where 
the  inhabitants  .  .  .  said  that  they  were  obliged 
to  resist,  under  a  threat  of  death  from  the  Emir 
of  Kano  to  any  one  who  should  open  the  gates.  A 
British  shell  blew  in  the  gate,  and  the  question  of 
resistance  was  determined.  The  town  was  not 
looted  or  injured,  and  non-combatants  were  un- 
harmed. A  series  of  newly  fortified  towns,  all  in- 
structed by  the  emir  to  fight,  were  expected  to  hold 
the  approaches  to  Kano.  After  this  first  experience 
the  garrisons  abandoned  them,  and  fled  without 
fighting  to  Kano.  The  inhabitants  remained  quietly 
in  the  towns,  and  brought  ample  supplies  to  the 
British  troops,  which  were  paid  for  as  in  time  of 
peace.  .  .  .  The  force  therefore  reached  Kano 
unopposed.  The  wall  of  the  town,  of  which  the 
circumference  was  eleven  miles,  was  forty  feet  thick 
at  the  base,  and  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  high.     It 

255 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

was  loopholed  and  strengthened  in  front  by  a  double 

ditch.      Its  thirteen  gates  had  been  lately  rebuilt 

.    .    .  while  the  ditch  was  full  of  live  thorns  and 

very  deep.     The  fortifications  were  such  that,  had 

there  been  any  determined  resistance  on  the  part  of 

the  defenders,  the  town  might  have  stood  an  almost 

interminable  siege. 

"  The  event  justified  the  British  belief  that   in 

fighting   the   Fulani   they  had   the   wishes   of  the 

people  of  Hausaland  on  their  side.    The  town  made 

practically  no  defence.     There  was  some  fairly  well 

directed  firing  from  behind  the  walls,  but,  a  small 

breach    having     been    effected,    an    assault    was 

ordered,   and   the   defenders   fled   as   soon   as   the 

heads  of  the  storming  party  appeared  in  the  gap. 

A  considerable  loss  was  inflicted  upon  the  enemy 

outside      the      walls      when     the      British     force 

endeavoured  to  cut  off  their  retreat.     As  they  fled 

they   suffered   severely.      The   town    itself,     which 

occupied    only    a    small    part    of    the    great    area 

enclosed  by  the  walls,  was  entered  unopposed.    The 

inhabitants  exhibited  no  concern.    .    .    .  The  troops 

paid   for   all    they   purchased.      The   slave -market 

closed    itself.       Otherwise    the    life    of    the    town 

pursued  its  usual  course.     Within  three  days  the 

great  market  showed  its  usual  activity,  and  fully 

equipped  caravans  started  for  the  south  and  arrived 

from  the  north  and  east  as  though  the  country  were 

in  perfect  peace.    ...   It  was  soon  ascertained  that 

the  emir  had  not  himself  directed  the  defence  and 

surrender  of   Kano.      He  had   removed  a  month 

previously  to  Sokoto,  and  the  defence  of  the  town 

256 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

had  been  left  to  two  trusted  slaves.  He  now 
returned  towards  Kano  with  the  whole  body  of  his 
army,  but  there  was  a  fatal  division  in  his  councils. 
,  ,  .  In  presence  of  the  difference  of  opinion 
between  his  chiefs  ...  he  placed  the  loyal 
portion  of  his  army  under  the  command  of  his 
vizier,  and  himself  fled  northwards  in  disguise 
towards  the  French  frontier.  On  the  following 
day  his  army  was  encountered  by  British  troops 
marching  out  to  meet  it,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  Kano,  and  .  ,  .  the  native  forces  were 
completely  defeated. 

"  Immediately  on  the  fall  of  Kano  the 
surrounding  towns  had  sent  in  to  submit  to  the 
British  and  to  express  their  wish  for  friendship, 
and  it  was  significant  that  this  had  been  done  even 
while  their  Fulani  chiefs  .  .  .  were  absent  in  the 
army  of  the  emir.  .  .  .  Conciliatory  letters  also 
twere  sent  to  the  Sultans  of  Katsina  and  Sokoto. 
.  ,  .  Katsina  immediately  replied  that  he  had  no 
desire  for  war,  and  would  willingly  accept  the 
British  conditions,"  « 

Thus  ended  in  a  fiasco  the  boasted  resistance  of 

Kano    and    central    Hausaland.       The    autocratic 

power  of  the  Fulani  was  at  an  end,  and  the  Hausas 

rejoiced  openly  in  the  subordination  of  their  former 

masters.     It  was,  however,  no  part  of  British  policy 

to   banish   the   Fulani   from   power  and   substitute 

Hausa  rulers  in  their  place.      On  the  contrary,  it 

was  the  intention  of  the  British  to  maintain    the 

existing  institutions,  including  Fulani  rule,  which 

'  "A  Tropical  Dependency,"  by  Lady  Lugard. 

257  R 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

had  been  at  first  based  upon  Koranic  law,  and  had 
now  been  established  for  a  hundred  years.  The 
administration  of  the  country,  however,  originally 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  justice  and 
humanity,  was  to  be  reformed  and  restored  to  its 
ancient  purity,  and  for  this  purpose  a  British 
Resident  was  established  at  Kano,  to  whom  the 
Fulani  chiefs  were  to  be  responsible  for  the  upright 
government  of  their  districts.  The  old  taxes  were 
retained,  but  their  amount  was  definitely  fixed  at 
such  a  figure  as  would  encourage  and  not  stifle 
the  eiTorts  of  the  husbandman  and  the  trader.  The 
ear  of  the  Resident  was  to  be  directly  accessible  to 
the  meanest  of  the  people,  whose  complaint  could 
be  tendered,  and  justice  secured,  without  charge  or 
fee,  while  the  extortioner  and  the  tyrant  would  be 
punished  with  a  ruthless  hand. 

Such,  then,  were  the  political  changes  which 
had  affected  the  great  city  of  Kano  since  the 
days  of  Earth  ;  changes,  however,  which  had  had 
but  little  influence  upon  the  outer  aspect  of 
the  metropolis.  The  Residency,  barracks,  and 
emergency  fort  are  situated  some  three  miles  to  the 
east  of  the  city  on  the  road  to  Katagum,  and  as 
we  were  ourselves  approaching  from  Katagum,  we 
reached  the  European  quarters  before  the  city  itself 
came  in  sight.  Here  I  camped  amongst  my  own 
countrymen,  while  the  carriers  went  on  to  Kano  to 
find  quarters  for  themselves  for  the  night  and 
spend  their  hard -won  earnings  in  the  market.  Next 
morning  I  visited  Kano  myself.  As  I  rode  slowly 
along  the  broad  and  sandy  road  which  led  to  the 

258 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

eastern  gate,  I  met  many  groups  of  suitors 
hastening  to  the  European  courts  :  now  a  number 
of  poorly-clad  peasants  dissatisfied  with  the  ruling 
of  their  local  alkali;  now  a  posse  of  Hausa  mer- 
chants, dusty  and  travel-stained,  bemoaning  the 
loss  of  a  portion  of  their  goods  by  night ;  now  a 
group  of  tall  and  spare  Fulani,  their  faces  almost 
covered  with  their  veils,  summoned  to  report  the 
exact  numbers  of  their  herds  ;  and  now  a  gaily- 
dressed  governor  on  a  prancing  steed,  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  mounted  attendants,  ready  to  do 
homage  to  his  foreign  masters,  and  disburse  the 
taxes  of  his  various  towns.  I  passed  through  the 
Gerin  Asbenawa,  a  prosperous  and  populous  village 
into  which  had  grown  the  little  settlement  where  in 
Earth's  day  a  company  of  slaves  resided  on  the 
estate  of  a  man  from  Asben.  Presently,  there 
came  in  sight  above  the  city  walls  the  flattened 
summits  of  Mounts  Dala  and  Kogon-dutsi,  the  two 
landmarks  of  Kano.  Outside  the  gate  there  sat  a 
row  of  lepers,  piteously  calling  for  alms  from  every 
passer-by,  and  inside,  at  every  corner,  the  halt  or 
the  blind  were  calling  down  the  blessings  of  Allah 
on  whoever  should  help  them  in  their  poverty. 
Within  the  city  the  scene  had  changed  but  little 
since  the  days  of  Barth.  The  narrow,  winding,  evil- 
smelling  lanes  still  ran  between  the  flat-roofed  mud- 
walled  houses,  "  built  in  a  most  uncomfortable  style, 
with  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  obtaining  the 
greatest  possible  privacy  for  domestic  life,  with- 
out any  attempt  to  provide  for  the  influx  of  fresh 
air  and  light."     In  many  cases  the  floor  of  the  outer 

259 


r 

On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

hall  was  sunk  below  the  level  of  the  street,  and 

"  almost  all  the  houses  had  also  a  very  irregular 

upper   story  on  a  different   level,   and   very  badly 

aired."      I   threaded  my  way  through  the  narrow 

streets  and  made   straight  for   Dala,   and,  having 

climbed  its  rocky  slopes,  enjoyed,  like  Barth,  the 

extensive  view  from  the   summit   of  the  hill,   and 

watched   the   caravans   of   camels   as   they   passed 

its  base  on  their  way  from  the  sandy  north.      I 

then  crossed  the  open  fields  to  Kogon-dutsi,  and 

from  its  summit  viewed  the  western  plains  ;    and 

again  returned  through  a  medley  of  clay  houses, 

huts  and  sheds,  stagnant  pools,  and  heaps  of  refuse, 

along  the  margin  of  the  pool  Jakara,  through  the 

great  market-place,   with   its   rows   of  booths   and 

shelters,   a   few   only   of   which   were   occupied   at 

this  early  hour,  and  out  again  through  the  eastern 

gate,  pleased  and  gratified  by  my  ramble  through 

the  ancient  city.     And  as  I  paced  again  the  broad 

and  sandy  road  which  led  eastward  to  the  bariki, 

I    speculated   upon   the   inevitable    changes   which 

must  ensue  within  the  next  few  years,  when,  on 

the  completion  of  the  Baro-Kano  railway  and  the 

Lagos  extension,  Kano  is  placed  within  easy  reach 

of  the   coast,  when  the  ubiquitous  tourist  will  be 

able  to  spend  the  week-end  in  the  heart  of  Hausa- 

land  while  his  steamer  is  discharging  at  the  wharfs 

of  Lagos  I 

I         Although  the  great  mass  of  the  people  within 

the  walls  of  Kano  are  happy  and  contented  under 

the  present  regime,  the  Fulani  chiefs  have  not  yet 

been  able  to  forget  their  former  glory  and  autocratic 

260 


i     ( 


^ 


\  y 


\  J 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

power,  and  while  they  remain  outwardly  sub- 
servient, periodically  a  rumour  arises  that  at  last 
they  have  gathered  courage  to  raise  the  standard 
of  revolt.  For  this,  amongst  other  reasons,  a 
sufficient  military  force  is  always  stationed  at  Kano 
for  the  protection  of  the  European  officials  ;  and 
as  it  happened,  on  the  day  that  I  visited  Kano  a 
rumour  came  through  from  Zaria  that  the  Fulani 
in  Kano  were  secretly  arming,  and  that  night 
intended  to  attack  the  Residency,  slaughter  all 
the  white  men,  and  establish  again  the  old  regime. 
Though  this  was  but  a  rumour,  and  probably 
unfounded,  still,  as  the  Fulani  were  a  somewhat 
uncertain  element  in  the  population,  pickets  were 
posted  at  night  round  the  European  lines,  and 
instructions  issued  for  concentration  in  the  emer- 
gency fort  if  there  should  actually  be  any  alarm. 
As  expected,  however,  the  night  passed  quietly ;  | 
and  in  the  morning,  as  soon  as  the  carriers  arrived 
from  the  city,  I  again  took  the  road  through  the 
Gerin  Asbenawa,  but  on  approaching  the  gate  of 
Kano,  turned  off  to  the  right  and  skirted  the  city 
wall  for  a  considerable  distance,  until  I  joined  the 
broad  and  well-beaten  track  which  led  northward 
to  Katsina,  by  way  of  Kasuan  Kuka,  a  little  to  the 
east  of  Earth's  route  in  1 8  5  i .  The  country  was  . 
bare  and  treeless  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of 
the  city,  but  by  the  time  that  Dala  had  disappeared 
from  view  we  had  entered  the  open  cultivated  park- 
like plains,  which,  with  occasional  stretches  of  thin 
and  scrubby  bush  between  the  farms,  stretch  north- 
ward  almost   to    Katsina.      There   had   now   been 

261 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

occasional  showers  of  rain,  and  the  short  green 
grass  was  beginning  to  sprout  from  the  tufty  roots. 
Many  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing  peacefully  over 
the  plains,  and  villages  and  hamlets  gradually 
became  more  numerous  as  we  left  the  metropolis 
farther  and  farther  behind,  the  distance  being  now 
too  great  for  the  husbandmen  to  return  to  Kano 
each  evening  from  their  farms. 

We  camped  at  Jelli  for  the  night,  a  Fulani  town 
where  the  sariki  and  his  people  seemed  none  too 
enthusiastic     in     their    welcome.       Indeed,     as     I 
journeyed  towards  Katsina,  there  was  nothing  more 
noticeable    than    the    increasing    cordiality    of    my 
welcome    as    the    distance    from    Kano    increased. 
The    headmen    of    the    villages    in    the    immediate 
neighbourhood     of     Kano     would     seem     to     be 
somewhat    tainted   with   the   latent    spirit    of     dis- 
affection and  envy  which  characterises  the  Fulani 
chiefs  of  Kano,  while,  at  a  distance  from  that  centre 
of  intrigue,  the  sarlkls  and  their  people  are  happy 
and  contented  under  the  present  regime,  or  at  least 
appear  so  to  the  casual  traveller.     Our  road  from 
Jelli  led  northward,  over  the  open  plains  covered 
with  thick  red  sandy  soil,  until  we  reached  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  villages  around  the  Kasuan  Kuka, 
a  noted  provincial  market,  and  a  halting-place  for 
caravans  from  the  north.      Here  we  were  met  by 
the  sarikin  Kunchi,  the  overlord  of  the  district,  a 
tall,    pleasant,    and    energetic-looking    Fulah,    who 
expressed  himself  as  very  pleased  to  see  me,  and, 
when  I  stopped  for  an  hour  at  Dumkwai,  brought 

me  the  best  that  the  village  could  provide.     When 

262 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

I  was  ready  to  go,  he  and  his  mounted  followers  rode 
ahead,  and  led  the  way  to  Kunchi  across  several 
sandy  watercourses  occupying  shallow  hollows  in 
the  surface  of  the  plain.  Kunchi  we  found  to  be 
a  somewhat  dilapidated  town,  which,  however, 
showed  signs  of  improvement  under  its  present 
ruler.  Provisions,  anyhow,  appeared  to  be 
abundant,  to  judge  from  the  ample  supplies  which 
the  sariki  provided  for  myself  and  the  carriers  in 
the  course  of  the  day. 

From  Kunchi  I  took  the  road  which  led  north- 
eastward to  Kazaure,  the  capital  of  a  semi- 
independent  state,  the  neighbourhood  of  which 
according  to  Earth's  information,  was  "  rocky,  with 
the  intervening  country  thickly  covered  with  wood." 
This  sounded  interesting,  especially  as  we  had 
experienced  no  rocky  ground  since  we  left  the 
Ningi  hills  on  the  southern  margin  of  Hausaland ; 
and  soon  we  found  that  Barth  had  been  informed 
correctly.  About  half-way  to  Kazaure  rocky  knobs 
of  quartzite  began  to  appear  above  the  sandy 
surface  of  the  plain,  and  presently  we  entered  a 
tract  of  broken  hilly  country,  through  which  the 
path  led  to  the  town  itself,  which  was  situated 
amongst  a  number  of  bare  and  rocky  hillocks  of 
blue  quartzite,  streaked  and  veined  with  white.  The 
hollows  between  were  filled  with  red  earthy  sand, 
supporting  numerous  large  and  shady  trees,  but 
otherwise  well  cleared  for  cultivation.  The  sariki 
had  ridden  out  to  meet  me  with  a  numerous  com- 
pany of  mounted  attendants,  and  after  expressing 

his  pleasure  at  my  visit,  conducted  me  to  the  bariki, 

263 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

which  was  set  on  a  sandy  knoll  outside  the  gate. 
The  town  itself  was  surrounded  by  a  well-kept 
rampart,  and  the  inhabited  portion  of  the  space 
within  was  closely  built,  populous,  and  apparently 
prosperous. 

Next  morning  we  left  the  hospitable  town  of 
Kazaure,  accompanied  again  by  the  sariki  and  his 
headmen  to  the  limit  of  the  farms.  For  a  time,  as 
on  the  previous  day,  the  path  led  through  a  stretch 
of  broken  rocky  country  before  it  re-entered  the 
open  plains  to  the  west,  decorated  only  by  some 
low  granite  hummocks  and  heaps  of  boulders.  We 
'camped  at  Rauni,  where  a  number  of  low,  flat- 
topped  hills  of  gritty  ironstone  rose  above  the 
surface  of  the  plain.  Again  at  Tummas  on  the 
morrow  some  low  hummocks  and  kopjes  of  granite 
projected  above  the  general  level,  but  beyond, 
as  far  as  Katsina,  the  gently  undulating  plains 
stretched  northward  without  a  single  granite  dome 
or  kopje  to  diversify  the  surface.  According  to 
Barth,  numerous  chains  of  hills,  sending  down  rapid 
streams,  decorate  the  surface  of  the  province  of 
Katsina,  but  these  I  found  only  in  the  west  on  the 
borders  of  Sokoto,  while  the  water  parting  of  which 
Barth  speaks,  "  between  the  basin  of  the  Tsad  and 
that  of  the  Kwara  (Niger),"  runs  indefinitely  along 
the  Crestline  of  an  immense  elevated  plain  which 
falls  off  gently  and  imperceptibly  to  the  east  and 
to  the  west. 

My  progress  from  Rauni  to  Katsina  was  marked 
by  the  same  pomp  and  splendour  which  attended 

my  march  from  Dumbum  to  Shira  in  the  eastern 

264 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

portion  of  Kano  province.  From  every  town  as 
I  approached,  there  rode  out  to  meet  me  a  ga,ily 
coloured  troop  of  horsemen,  consisting  of  the 
sariki  and  his  chief  retainers,  who  honoured  me 
with  a  combined  salute  in  proper  Hausa  fashion, 
galloping  forward  to  within  a  few  yards  and  then 
pulling  their  horses  up  sharply  on  their  haunches 
in  line,  at  the  same  time  raising  their  right  hands 
high  above  their  heads.  Then  after  a  few  words 
of  greeting  they  wheeled  round  and  galloped  in 
front  of  me  to  the  gate  of  the  town,  where  they 
dismounted  to  bid  me  welcome  once  again  and 
lead  me  to  my  quarters  within  the  walls.  Such 
was  my  reception  all  along  the  route,  at  Ungawa, 
Karahazi,  Doru,  and  Jeni ;  and  not  only  was  my 
welcome  cordial  and  spontaneous,  but  the  in- 
habitants overwhelmed  us  with  the  most  lavish 
hospitality,  forcing  upon  myself  and  upon  the 
carriers  all  kinds  of  native  delicacies,  in  addition 
to  the  common  necessaries  of  existence.  I  could 
not  help  contrasting  the  honour  and  the  prestige 
which  in  these  regions  the  white  man  now  com- 
mands, with  the  unobtrusive  and  unpretentious 
manner  in  which  fifty  years  ago  Earth  himself  was 
compelled  to  travel,  exposed  to  constant  insult  and 
extortion,  the  common  prey  of  every  rapacious 
governor  through  whose  province  he  passed. 

On  the  third  day  from  Rauni  I  reached  the 
Residency  at  Katsina,  which,  with  the  barracks  and 
the  emergency  fort  is  set  on  rising  ground  to  the  east 
of   the   town.      In   the  afternoon    I    rode   towards 

Katsina  itself,  the  city  which  for  a  time  after  the 

265 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

decline  of  Kano  had  been  the  queen  of  Hausaland, 
and  followed  the  northern  wall  until  I  reached  and 
entered  by  the  western  gate.  The  configuration  of 
the  city  appears  now  to  differ  much  from  what  it 
was  in  the  days  of  Barth,  while  the  south-eastern 
portion  seems  now  to  be  most  thickly  populated. 
The  main  streets  are  wide  and  clean,  and  the  houses 
are  practically  all  flat-roofed  two-storied  clay  build- 
ings which  give  quite  an  Oriental  appearance  to  the 
city.  The  streets,  however,  were  calm  and  quiet,  ex- 
cept where  the  sound  of  a  makaranchi  (school)  was 
borne  outward  through  the  open  door.  I  thought  of 
the  time  when  the  city  had  worn  a  different  aspect, 
when  "  Katsina  filled,  during  the  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  centuries  of  our  era,  the  position  of 
the  leading  city  in  this  part  of  Negroland.  It  was 
important  not  only  in  commerce  and  politics  but 
also  in  learning  and  in  literature.  It  seems  to  have 
been  regarded  as  a  sort  of  university  town.  The 
Hausa  language  attained  here,  it  is  said,  to  its 
greatest  richness  of  form  and  refinement  of  pro- 
nunciation, while  at  the  same  time  the  manners  of 
Katsina  were  distinguished  by  superior  politeness 
over  those  of  the  other  towns  of  Hausaland."  ' 

The  casual  traveller,  however,  who  spends  but  a 
night  in  every  town,  has  little  opportunity  of  enter- 
ing into  the  inner  life  of  the  people.  To  him  the 
petty  jealousies  and  ambitions,  inseparable  from 
social  life  in  the  heart  of  Africa  as  in  the  village 
homes  of  England,  are  quite  unknown.  His  im- 
pressions are  drawn  from  superficial  contact  only, 

'  "A  Tropical  Dependency,"  by  Lady  Lugard. 
266 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

and  from  accidents  and  events  which  affect  his 
personal  comfort  and  convenience  by  the  way.  My 
chief  recollection  of  Katsina  therefore  is  a  sub- 
jective one,  based  upon  an  unpleasant  experience 
on  the  morning  of  my  departure.  The  resthouse, 
which  is  situated  near  the  Residency,  is  a  square 
clay  building  with  a  high  thatched  roof,  and  it 
happened  that  during  the  night  a  heavy  shower  of 
rain  soaked  the  thatch  and  dislodged  myriads  of 
earwigs  which  had  taken  refuge  there  from  the 
heat  of  the  sun.  I  awoke  to  find  my  net  covered 
with  the  creeping  things,  while  earwigs  were  in 
my  boots,  amongst  my  clothes,  on  my  chair  and  in 
my  bath,  amongst  my  provisions  and  in  every  hole 
and  corner  that  they  could  find  ;  and  no  sooner  had 
I  opened  my  net  than  they  took  possession  of  my 
bed  and  tucked  themselves  away  underneath  the 
quilt,  the  pillows,  the  sheets,  and  the  mattresses.  I 
shook  them  out  of  my  clothes  and  dressed  as  well 
as  I  could,  and  then  had  everything  carried  out- 
side and  a  preliminary  cleaning  begun.  Again  in 
the  afternoon  when  I  camped  at  Kurefi,  I  had  all 
my  clothes  and  bedding  and  other  baggage  shaken 
and  spread  out  in  the  sunshine,  but  even  so  it  was 
days  before  I  got  rid  of  the  insects,  and  long  after, 
when  I  had  returned  to  England,  I  found  several 
stray  samples  of  Katsina  earwigs  in  the  corners  of 
my  boxes. 

From  the  rising  ground  on  which  the  Residency 
was  set  to  the  east  of  the  town,  we  could  see  the 
flat  cultivated  plains  stretching  northward  towards 

the  frontier  of  the  Protectorate,  but  as  we  left  the 

267 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

southern  gate,  we  found,  as  in  the  days  of  Barth, 
that  there  was  little  cultivation  on  the  southern  side 
of  the  town,  most  of  the  country  immediately  round 
the  walls  being  covered  with  brushwood.  After 
the  rain  in  the  night  the  air  felt  fresh  and  clean, 
and  a  pleasant  odour  rose  from  the  sandy  soil.  The 
surface  was  here  more  rapidly  undulating,  and  it 
was  with  some  little  difficulty  that  we  crossed  the 
narrow  watercourses  in  the  hollows,  temporarily 
swollen  by  the  rain.  Presently  we  passed  some 
hamlets  where  the  people  were  rejoicing  at  the 
change,  and  busily  sowing  their  corn  over  the 
moistened  fields.  Beyond  Sani  the  country  changed 
its  aspect  from  a  more  or  less  level  plain  to  a 
hummocky  undulating  granitic  surface.  Kurefi, 
where  we  camped,  was  set  picturesquely  amongst 
a  number  of  low  rounded  granite  domes  and  heaps 
of  boulders.  Barth  had  visited  this  town  on  his 
way  to  Sokoto,  when  he  and  the  galadima  made  a 
detour  to  the  south  to  avoid  the  army  of  the 
Goberawa,  but  I  could  find  little  or  no  trace  of 
the  elaborate  fortifications  which  at  that  time  pro- 
tected the  town. 

It  was  my  intention  in  taking  the  road  by  Kurefi 
to  travel  south  westward  from  Katsina  to  Kotor- 
koshi  and  there  join  the  main  road  leading  from 
Kano  to  Sokoto.  My  path  led  therefore  from 
Kurefi  to  Taskia,  a  village  whose  overlord  was  the 
sarlki  of  Ummadau,  a  considerable  town  which 
lay  a  few  miles  to  the  north.  All  the  way  from 
Kurefi   we   passed   through   a   hummocky   granitic 

country,  which  extended  on  either  hand  as  far  as 

268 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

we  could  see.  Near  Tummo  the  country  presented 
an  exceptionally  rough  and  broken  aspect,  the  road 
passing  through  an  assemblage  of  low  granite  hills, 
domes,  tors,  kopjes,  perched  blocks  and  heaps  of 
boulders  without  any  particularly  high  and  pro- 
minent peaks.  The  whole  surface,  moreover,  ap- 
peared to  have  been  partially  smothered  in  blown 
sand,  which  filled  up  the  spaces  between  the  rocks, 
and  was  banked  up  against  the  slopes  of  the 
higher  hills.  In  consequence  the  road,  instead  of 
being  rocky  and  stony,  was  for  the  most  part  soft 
and  sandy  except  where  it  led  over  bare  and  smooth 
and  rounded  surfaces  of  granite  exposed  along  the 
track.  As  we  approached  Taskia,  we  were  met  by 
a  troop  of  horsemen,  who  proved  to  be  the  sarikin 
Ummadau  and  his  retainers,  who,  on  hearing  that 
I  was  passing  that  way,  had  ridden  over  from 
Ummadau  to  bid  me  welcome  to  his  country.  He 
speedily  had  a  runfa  built  for  me  underneath  a 
shady  tree,  and  provided  ample  supplies  of  pro- 
visions for  myself  and  the  carriers.  He  remained, 
moreover,  in  the  village  all  night,  and  next  morning 
accompanied  me  for  a  considerable  distance  on 
my  way  to  Duru. 

The  same  rocky  granite  country  continued  next 
day  as  far  as  Runka,  but  as  we  approached  the 
village  the  aspect  of  the  country  gradually  became 
smoother,  the  low  rounded  granite  domes  and 
turtlebacks  becoming  more  or  less  detached,  with 
the  sandy  drift  heaped  high  against  their  sides. 
Beyond   Runka  we   entered  an   open   sandy   plain 

whose  undulating  surface,   covered  with  thin  and 

269 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

open  bush,  stretched  southward  and  eastward  as 
far  as  we  could  see  towards  the  frontier  of  Katsina. 
At  Duru,  where  we  camped  for  the  night,  a  number 
of  granite  hills  rose  abruptly  from  the  plain,  while 
the  country  round  presented  a  pleasant  park-like 
aspect,  with  large  and  shady  trees  scattered  here 
and  there  over  the  cultivated  fields.  The  inhabi- 
tants were  pagan  Hausas,  poorly  and  even 
primitively  clad,  many  of  whom  in  their  shyness 
took  refuge  amongst  the  rocks  upon  our  approach. 
Presently,  however,  they  gained  courage,  and  be- 
came quite  friendly,  and  supplied  the  carriers  with 
all  that  they  required  in  the  way  of  provisions  for 
the  night. 

We  had  now  reached  the  frontier  town  of  the 
province  of  Katsina,  beyond  which  there  lay  a 
broad  belt  of  wooded  plain,  practically  unin- 
habited, separating  Katsina  from  Sokoto,  and 
through  this  tract  of  country  our  road  now  lay  to 
Kotorkoshi,  the  scene  of  Sultan  Aliyu's  inglorious 
victory  over  a  few  poverty-stricken  pagans  in  the 
days  of  Barth.  About  halfway,  the  little  settlement 
of  Woneka  had  been  recently  founded  in  a  clearing 
in  the  bush  on  the  banks  of  a  river,  and  here  I 
arranged  to  camp  for  the  night.  Along  the  path 
our  view  was  limited  by  the  forest,  but  neither  east 
nor  west  of  Woneka  were  there  any  prominent 
granite  hills  or  kopjes  rising  from  the  plain.  Only 
at  Kotorkoshi  itself  did  we  find  another  group  of 
rounded  granite  domes  and  turtle-backs  like  those 
of  Duru   rising  abruptly  above   the  general   level, 

with  the  village  and  the  restcamp  at  their  base,  sur- 

270 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

rounded  by  park-like  cultivated  fields.  Beyond 
Kotorkoshi  again  the  same  wooded  plains  stretched 
westward  to  the  Gulbin  Gandi,  one  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  Sokoto  river,  without  a  single  granite 
dome  or  kopje  to  relieve  the  monotony  of  the 
scenery.  The  whole  surface  of  the  country,  more- 
over, is  deeply  covered  with  sandy  wash,  which 
covers  up  all  the  minor  irregularities  of  the  surface 
of  the  plain,  and  which,  if  cleared  and  cultivated, 
would  be  found  most  fertile  virgin  soil,  capable  of 
supporting  a  very  large  population. 

We  rested  at  Kotorkoshi,  and  then  moved  on  to 
Gusau,  a  place  of  considerable  size,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Gulbin  Gandi,  and  possessing  a  mixed 
Hausa  and  Fulani  population.  The  cultivated 
plains  around  were  gently  undulating,  and  the 
river  had  cut  a  valley,  comparatively  wide  and 
deep,  in  the  surface  alluvium.  From  Gusau  north- 
westward to  Sokoto  the  road  followed  the  valley  of 
the  river,  whose  banks  were  lined  with  numerous 
walled  towns  and  villages,  large  and  small.  Rest- 
houses,  moreover,  have  been  erected  along  the  way 
at  convenient  intervals  for  travellers,  and  in  these 
I  camped  at  Karakai,  Maradu,  Rimi,  Yantsokua, 
and  Rara.  In  places  the  banks  of  the  river  were 
high  and  rocky,  in  others  low  and  swampy  and  level 
with  the  plain.  Between  Karakai  and  Maradu  the 
road  led  through  a  belt  of  hilly  ground  of  mingled 
slate  and  granite,  in  which  the  river  Garsa  had  cut 
a  deep  and  narrow  channel.  Beyond  Maradu  the 
open  sandy  and  swampy  plains  stretched  northward 

towards    Sokoto,    diversified   only   by   some   small 

271 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

flat-topped  sandstone  hills  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Dankaiwa  and  Dampo.  It  was  not,  however,  until 
we  had  passed  Rara  and  Mallamawa  that  the  valley 
began  to  assume  the  characteristic  appearance  of 
the  great  watercourses  of  the  north  and  west,  and 
to  be  bounded  on  either  side  by  more  or  less  con- 
tinuous escarpments  of  sandstone,  leading  upward 
to  the  plains  above. 

At  every  town  or  village  along  our  route  where 
we  camped  or  stopped  to  rest,  we  found  the  people 
ready  and  willing  to  supply  our  wants.  It  was 
evident,  however,  in  this  part  of  the  province  where 
the  people  were  predominantly  Fulani,  that  the 
white  man  was  looked  upon  as  a  more  or  less 
necessary  evil.  His  wishes  were  respected,  and 
his  word  was  law,  but  there  was  an  obvious  lack 
of  the  hearty  and  spontaneous  welcome  which  we 
had  received  in  Katsina  and  eastern  Kano.  The 
Fulani  of  Sokoto  indeed,  like  those  of  Kano,  are 
still  brooding  over  their  loss  of  supremacy,  and 
many  discontented  spirits  wander  about  through  the 
towns  and  villages  seeking  secretly  to  stir  up  the 
people  to  active  hostility  against  their  European 
masters.  Only  once,  however,  since  the  British 
occupation,  have  they  actually  persuaded  any 
section  of  the  people  to  take  the  offensive,  and 
that  was  in  1906,  when  the  Resident  of  Sokoto 
was  treacherously  murdered  in  a  small  village  a 
few  hours  south  of  Sokoto  itself.  Even  then,  how- 
ever, the  movement  failed  to  find  anything  but  local 
support  and  approval,  and  now  that  the  provincial 

guard  has  been  strengthened  and  a  stricter  watch 

273 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

is  kept  over  these  wandering  mallams,  there  is  less 
likelihood  than  ever  of  a  concerted  and  successful 
rising  being  organised  by  the  envious  Fulani.  \ 

It  was  on  the  sixth  day  after  leaving  Gusau  that 
we  came  in  sight  of  the  walls  of  Sokoto,  the  city 
which  from  the  days  of  Sultan  Bello  had  been  the 
capital  of  the  great  Fulani  empire  and  the  more 
or  less  constant  residence  of  the  Sarikin  MusLimin, 
the  Sultan  of  Sokoto,  the  overlord  of  Hausaland 
and  Adamawa,  second  only  in  holiness  and  in  power 
to  the  great  Sultan  of  the  North.  At  the  time  of 
the  British  occupation  of  Nigeria  in  1900,  Sokoto 
was  still  the  recognised  religious  and  political  head 
of  Hausaland,  and  although  the  empire  was  very 
loosely  knit  together,  the  Sultan  of  Sokoto  still 
retained  the  right  of  nominating  the  holders  lof 
the  various  Fulani  emirates.  When,  however,  in 
1902  he  was  approached  in  a  friendly  manner  by 
the  British  and  asked  to  nominate  successors  to  the 
deposed  emirs  of  Kontagora  and  Nupe,  he  sent  a 
hostile  reply  couched  in  the  following  terms  :  "  I 
do  not  consent  that  any  one  from  you  should  ever 
dwell  with  us .  I  will  never  agree  with  you  ;  I  will 
have  nothing  ever  to  do  with  you.  Between  us  and 
you  there  are  no  dealings,  except  as  between  Mussul- 
mans and  unbelievers — war  as  God  Almighty  has 
enjoined  upon  us."  This  reply  necessitated  the 
despatch  of  the  expedition,  which,  as  already  related, 
left  Zaria  in  January,  1903,  captured  Kano,  defeated 
the  emir's  forces,  received  the  submission  of 
Katsina,  and  then  moved  north-westward  towards 

Sokoto  itself. 

273  s 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

"  It  was  the  season  of  the  harmattan  wind  ;    the 
heat  in  the  middle  of  the  day  was  terrific,    .    .    .   and 
the  dry  wind  blew   like  the   breath  of  a  furnace, 
parching  the  throats  of  the  men.     The  water  of  the 
country  during  the  greater  part  of  the  march  was 
impregnated  with   salts   of   soda  and  potash,   and 
increased,  instead  of  allaying,  thirst.     At  night  the 
temperature  suddenly  fell,  and  the  cold  became  so 
sharp  that  the  native  troops  suffered  severely  from 
pneumonia  and  lung  diseases.    ...  A  letter  was 
received  from  the  Emir  of  Gando,  making  his  sub- 
mission.   .    .    .   Sokoto    alone    remained    obdurate, 
and  the  column,  somewhat  depleted  by  the  hard- 
ships of  the  march,  but  reinforced  by  the  troops 
from  Argungu,  marched  upon  the  town.     On  the 
I  5th  of  March  a  battle  took  place,   in  which  the 
Sokoto  troops  were  defeated  and  put  to  flight.    .    .    . 
The  High  Commissioner  arrived  at  Sokoto  on  the 
1 9th  of  March  in  time  to  see,  as  he  came  over  some 
rising  ground,  a  dark  crowd  streaming  towards  the 
British    camp,     composed    ...  of    the    principal 
notables  of  the  town  coming  to  make  their  formal 
submission  to  the  British.     He  received  in  person 
the  submission  of  the  Waziri  and  principal  chiefs 
of  Sokoto.     The  emir,  like  the  Emir  of  Kano,  had 
fled."  '      Some  little  time  after,   however,   he  and 
many  of  his  rebel  adherents  paid  the  last  penalty 
at   the   capture   of   Burmi,   and   meanwhile   a   new 
emir,  favourable  to  the  British  cause,  was  installed 
as  Sarlkin  Muslimin  and  Sultan  of  Sokoto, 

The  Residency,  with  the  barracks  and  the  emer- 

'  "A  Tropical  Dependency." 

274 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

gency  fort,  is  situated  to  the  south  of  the  town, 
near  a  spring  of  excellent  water  on  the  open  sur- 
face of  the  plain.  Halfway  between  the  European 
quarters  and  the  southern  iwall  of  the  town  is  a 
clean  and  tidy  village,  while  the  outer  suburb  of 
the  city  still  exists,  as  described  by  Barth,  between 
the  two  southern  gates.  The  town  itself,  which 
in  the  days  of  Barth  had  been  deserted  by  the  court 
for  political  reasons  in  favour  of  Wurnu,  wears 
now  an  air  of  greater  prosperity.  It  occupies 
a  position  of  considerable  natural  strength,  being 
built  at  the  confluence  of  the  Gulbin  Rima  and  the 
Gulbin  Gandi,  and  bounded  not  only  by  the  river 
valleys  to  the  east  and  north,  but  also  by  steep 
cliffs  of  sandstone,  which  separate  the  valleys  from 
the  upper  plains.  Only  on  the  south  and  west  do 
the  gates  lead  directly  out  upon  the  open  sandy 
plains,  which  are  cleared  and  cultivated  for  long 
acres  round  the  walls.  The  market-place  is  still 
situated  at  the  "  north-east  corner,  on  the  brink 
of  the  rugged  slope  which  descends  into  the 
valley."  Within  the  town  the  huts  are  mostly 
thatched,  and  there  are  fewer  clay-built  houses 
than  in  Kano  or  Katsina.  The  palace  and  the 
mosque  have  been  rebuilt,  and  the  shrine  of  the 
great  Othman  is  still  visited  by  pious  Fulani 
pilgrims,  who  look  upon  it  as  a  local  Mecca. 

Next  morning  I  rode  over  to  Wurnu,  the 
residence  of  the  court  in  the  days  of  Barth  and  for 
many  years  after,  during  the  decline  of  the  Fulani 
empire.  The  town  lies  about  eighteen  miles  to 
the   north-east  of   Sokoto   and   the   road   led   first 

275 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

across  the  valley  of  the  Gulbin  Gandi  and  then 
over  the  broken  surface  of  the  higher  plains  beyond, 
with  the  irregularities  in  part  obscured  by  thick 
accumulations  of  blown  sand.  We  stopped  to  rest 
at  Gidan  Bango  and  then  descended  to  the  margin 
of  the  faddama  of  the  Gulbin  Rima,  and  followed 
the  base  of  the  cliffs  which  bounded  the  wide  and 
shallow  valley  until  we  came  in  sight  of  the  walls 
of  Wurnu,  built  upon  a  sloping  platform  of  rock 
which  projected  outward  from  the  line  of  the 
escarpment  into  the  valley  of  the  river.  At  a 
little  distance  from  the  town,  we  were  met  by  the 
sarlki  and  a  number  of  mounted  attendants  who, 
after  saluting,  conducted  me  to  my  quarters  within 
the  walls.  The  town  still  wore  an  aspect  similar 
to  that  which  it  presented  in  the  days  of  Barth. 
There  were  the  wells  before  the  gates,  the  high  and 
battlemented  walls,  the  closely  built  and  somewhat 
evil-smelling  town  and  the  market-place  on  the 
margin  of  the  platform  where  it  faces  the  river. 
Nothing  had  changed  except  the  political  aspect 
of  the  country  :  and  whereas  in  the  days  of  Barth 
and  up  to  the  date  of  the  British  occupation,  the 
country  all  around  had  been  very  unsafe  and  ex- 
posed to  continual  raiding  by  the  Goberawa  whom 
the  effeminate  Fulani  dared  not  meet  in  open  battle, 
now  within  a  few  short  years  the  Pax  Britannica  has 
settled  on  the  land,  the  walls  and  ditches  are  of 
little  use,  the  people  are  happy  and  contented,  and 
the  husbandmen  may  till  the  ground  at  long  dis- 
tances   from   the   town   without    the   least   fear   of 

molestation  by  their  former  enemies. 

276 


The  Plains  of  Hausaland 

Next  morning  we  returned  to  Sokoto,  and  in  the 
afternoon  while  the  carriers  were  resting,  I  rode 
northward  through  the  town,  down  the  steep  slope 
where  the  market-place  is  set,  and  out  through 
the  northern  gate  over  the  wide  alluvial  plain  or 
faddama  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers.  The 
Gulbin  Gandi  or  Gulbin  Raba,  up  whose  valley 
we  had  travelled  from  Gusau  to  Sokoto,  and  the 
Gulbin  Rima,  which  when  in  flood  washes  the  slopes 
of  the  Wurnu  hills,  unite  at  Sokoto  to  form  the 
Gulbin  Kebbi  which  then  flows  south-westward  to 
join  the  Niger.  The  remarkable  feature  about  all 
these  rivers  of  Northern  Sokoto  is  the  extraordinary 
contrast  which  exists  between  the  great  breadth  of 
their  valleys  and  the  tiny  streams  which  now  occupy 
their  channels.  The  valleys,  moreover,  have  a 
peculiar  structure  in  themselves,  and  appear  as 
broad,  flat-bottomed,  trench-like  excavations  in  the 
surface  of  the  sandy  plains,  bounded  on  either  side 
by  steep  rocky  walls  which  are  more  or  less 
continuous  along  the  whole  length  of  the  valley. 
Through  the  faddama,  or  flat  alluvial  plain  which 
forms  the  floor  of  the  valley,  there  winds  in  the 
dry  season  a  tiny  stream  which  loses  itself  at  in- 
tervals in  stretches  of  swamp.  In  the  rainy  season 
there  is  a  greater  volume  of  water,  and  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  faddama  is  covered  with  a 
shallow  flood.  Only  in  very  exceptional  seasons, 
however,  does  the  flood  occupy  the  whole  breadth 
of  the  valley  and  even  when  this  happens,  its  flow 
is  so  sluggish  that  it  is  quite  incapable  of  any 
active  erosion.     It  would  appear  indeed  that  these 

2^^ 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

broad,  flat-bottomed,  trench-like  valleys  have  been 
excavated  by  much  larger  rivers  at  some  former 
period,  when  under  a  different  climatic  regime  the 
rainfall  was  much  greater  in  the  Sudan  than  it  is 
at  present.  The  faddamas  of  these  rivers  are 
naturally  very  fertile  and  capable  of  intense  cultiva- 
tion, rejuvenated  annually  as  they  are  by  the 
summer  floods,  and  it  is  only  at  rare  intervals 
that  the  flood  rises  so  high  as  to  ruin,  rather  than 
encourage,  the  efforts  of  the  patient  husbandmen. 


278 


CHAPTER    X 

THE  GULBIN   KEBBI   AND  THE   MIDDLE   NIGER 

''^Beside  the  river's  wooded  reach. 

The  fortress,  and  the  mountain  ridge, 
The  cataract  flashing  from  the  bridge. 
The  breaker  breaking  on  the  beach." 

The  story  of  Argungu — Hearty  welcome  by  the  sariki — Birnin 
Kebbi — A  narrow  path — Southward  to  Yelwa — A  decaying 
city — Approach  of  the  rainy  season — The  Niger  at  Bussa — 
The  scene  of  Park's  disaster — The  river  gorge  at  Jebba — The 
Juju  Rock — The  history  of  Kontagora — Its  capture  by  the 
British — The  Kaduna  at  Zungeru — The  jirigin  kassa — Fare- 
well to  Mount  Patti. 

I  HAD  now  visited  the  three  most  famous  cities  of 

Hausaland,  Kano,  Katsina,  and  Sokoto  ;   and  as  the 

rainy  season  was  now  rapidly  approaching  and  had 

indeed  already  begun  in  the  south,   I   decided  to 

turn  my  steps  southward  towards  Lokoja  and  the 

Niger.       The    direct    route    lay    southward    from 

Sokoto  by  way  of  Anka,  Banaga,  and  Kotonkoro 

to   Zungeru,   but   as   this   road   was   comparatively 

dull    and    uninteresting,    I    decided    to    follow    the 

valley  of  the  Gulbin  Kebbi  until  it  joined  the  Niger 

279 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

and  then  strike  southward  along  the  left  bank  of 
the  river,  at  least  as  far  as  Bussa,  a  place  re- 
nowned in  the  history  of  African  exploration.  It 
was  my  purpose  also  in  taking  this  route  to  visit 
the  town  of  Argungu,  to  avoid  which  Barth,  on 
his  way  to  Timbuktu,  was  compelled  to  make  a 
detour  to  the  southward  by  way  of  Gando,  before  he 
again  touched  the  valley  of  the  Sokoto  River  at 
Birnin  Kebbi.  In  his  day  and  up  to  the  time  of 
the  British  occupation,  Argungu  was  the  seat  of  a 
succession  of  warlike  rebel  chiefs,  who  first  raised 
the  standard  of  revolt  against  Fulani  domination 
in  the  province  of  Kebbi,  successfully  resisted  all 
attempts  at  subjugation,  and  from  the  middle  to  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  during  the  decline  of 
the  Fulani  empire,  constantly  harassed  and  alarmed 
the  weak  rulers  of  Sokoto  and  Gando.  Argungu 
itself  had  remained  a  pagan  town,  the  inhabitants 
disdaining  even  the  religion  of  the  conquerors  ;  and 
the  present  chief,  before  the  coming  of  the  British, 
had  been  a  vigorous  and  energetic  warrior,  who 
had  attracted  to  his  camp  and  to  his  city  all  the 
discontented  spirits  within  the  western  portion  of 
the  empire  of  Sokoto.  At  the  time  of  the  British 
conquest  in  1903,  the  Sarikin  Argungu  became 
our  ally  and  offered  the  aid  of  his  native  warriors 
in  the  subjugation  of  their  hereditary  enemies. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  when  he  did  so,  the  rebel 
chief  had  sanguine  expectations  of  being  installed 
as  Sultan  of  Sokoto,  but  in  this  he  suffered  grievous 
disappointment.     He  and  his  city,  however,  have 

been   confirmed   in   their   independence   of   Fulani 

280 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

rule  and  now  pay  their  tribute  directly  to  the 
Resident  at  Sokoto. 

It  is  a  three  days'  journey  from  Sokoto  to 
Argungu,  the  stages  being  respectively  Tozo  and 
Kantami.  On  the  first  day  as  far  as  Wamako, 
the  road  leads  over  an  undulating  sandy  plain,  with 
here  and  there  in  the  distance  a  detached  conical 
or  flat -topped  sandstone  hill.  Beyond  Wamako 
the  path  in  the  dry  season  enters  the  faddama 
and  runs  direct  to  Tozo,  twice  crossing  on  the  way 
the  winding  channel  of  the  Gulbin  Kebbi.  At 
times  the  path  draws  near  the  projecting  buttresses 
of  the  escarpment  which  bounds  the  valley  on  the 
left,  while  far  in  the  distance  across  the  faddama 
can  be  seen  the  rocky  slopes  which  form  the 
northern  margin.  In  places  along  the  base  of  the 
cliff  there  are  thick  accumulations  of  blown  sand 
which  project  outward  as  low  rolling  mounds  at 
right  angles  to  the  line  of  the  escarpment,  or  par- 
tially fill  up  the  smaller  lateral  valleys,  forming 
smooth  inclined  surfaces  leading  upward  to  the 
plains  above.  Between  Tozo  and  Kantami  the  river 
valley  takes  a  semi-circular  sweep  to  the  north, 
while  the  road  ascends  the  escarpment  to  the 
upper  plains  and  crosses  a  tract  of  broken  hilly 
country  covered  with  thin  and  open  bush  before 
it  enters  the  sandy  plains  around  Kantami  and 
Bubuchi,  whence  it  again  strikes  across  the  harder 
surface  of  the  river  plain  until  Argungu  is  in 
sight . 

As  the  road  approached  the  rising  ground  on  the 

margin  of  the  faddama,  where  at  a  little  distance 

281 


u 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

Argungu  itself  was  situated,  I  saw  a  number  of 
horsemen  resting  underneath  the  trees,  who,  as  soon 
as  our  little  party  was  observed,  came  forward 
at  a  gallop  to  salute  me.  They  proved  to  be  the 
Sarikin  Argungu  and  his  chiefs,  with  a  number  of 
mounted  drummers  and  trumpeters  and  other 
retainers  on  horseback  and  on  foot.  All  were 
dressed  in  gaily  coloured  robes,  and  the  whole 
appearance  of  the  party  reminded  me  much  of  the 
gaudy  magnificence  of  the  Sarikin  Bura  and  his 
pagan  attendants.  The  bright  colours  and 
elaborate  costumes,  moreover,  offered  a  pleasing 
contrast  to  the  more  sombre  and  ascetic  garb  of 
the  Fulani  of  Sokoto,  where  even  the  Sarikin 
Muslimin  himself  is  accustomed  to  appear  in  robes 
which  have  long  since  lost  their  pristine  freshness. 
The  heartiness  of  my  welcome,  moreover,  con- 
trasted strongly  with  the  sullen  and  sulky  looks  with 
which  I  had  been  generally  received  by  the  Fulani 
of  the  Gandi  Valley.  The  old  warrior  king  received 
me  with  many  expressions  of  goodwill,  and  re- 
peatedly shook  my  hand  in  token  of  everlasting 
friendship  with  the  white  man,  and  then  led  the 
way  in  state  to  the  bariki  which  was  situated 
amongst  some  rocky  knolls  to  the  south  of  the 
town.  Argungu  itself  is  closely  built  and  densely 
populated  and  surrounded  by  a  well-built  wall,  as 
befitted  a  city  of  refuge  in  the  days  of  Fulani 
rule.  Many  herds  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses 
were  grazing  in  the  faddama  beyond,  large  tracts 
of  which  were  also  fenced  off  for  cultivation  ;    and 

the   whole    city,    no   less   than   the   sariki  and   his 

282 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

chiefs,    wore    a    general    air    of    prosperity    and 
success. 

From  Argungu  we  took  the  road  to  Birnin  Kebbi, 
which  led  now  along  the  margin  of  the  faddama 
and  now  over  the  open  sandy  plains  behind.  We 
camped  for  the  night  at  Ambrusa,  which  has  been 
rebuilt  since  the  days  of  Barth,  and  then  moved 
over  a  broad  and  sandy  path,  much  frequented 
by  caravans  of  traders,  until  the  "  picturesque  spur 
or  promontory  "  of  Birnin  Kebbi  came  in  sight. 
This  large  and  important  town  was  visited  by  Barth 
in  1854  on  his  way  from  Sokoto  to  Timbuktu,  and 
is  now  the  official  headquarters  of  the  sub-province 
of  Gando,  with  a  Resident  and  half  a  company  of 
native  infantry  under  the  command  of  a  British 
officer.  The  European  lines  occupy  the  site  of  the 
original  town  of  Kebbi,  the  capital  of  the  Kebawa, 
which  was  destroyed  by  the  Fulani  in  1805,  and 
of  which  only  traces  of  the  walls  now  remain.  The 
present  town  retains  a  very  similar  aspect  to  that 
which  it  possessed  in  the  days  of  Barth,  with  the 
exception  that  it  is  no  longer  open  to  the  reproach 
of  being  almost  bare  of  trees.  "  The  walls  are  almost 
a  mile  distant  from  those  of  the  old  one,  lying 
close  to  the  steep  slope  which,  with  a  descent  of 
about  250  feet,  goes  down  here  into  the  large 
green  valley  or  faddama ^ 

We  were  early  on  the  march  next  morning  and, 
skirting  the  town  to  the  right,  made  straight  for 
the  projecting  "  mountain  spur  which  is  called 
Duko,"  up  which  the  path  led  to  the  open  sandy 
plains    above.       By    the    feet    of    generations    of 

283 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

travellers,  however,  the  track  has  been  worn  deep 
in  the  soft  earthy  sandstone  of  the  cliffs,  until  now 
it  runs  in  a  V-shaped  trench  through  which  my 
horse  was  able  to  scramble,  only  with  the  greatest 
difficulty.  Even  in  the  days  of  Barth,  this  path 
"  was  cut  into  the  sandstone  like  a  gutter,  and 
was  too  narrow  for  his  heavily  laden  camels  to 
pass  through,"  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  descend 
and  follow  the  lower  road  which  ran  along  the  base 
of  the  cliffs  on  the  margin  of  the  faddama.  From 
the  summit  of  the  promontory  I  had  an  excellent 
view  over  the  great  flat-bottomed  valley  of  the 
Gulbin  Kebbi  to  the  distant  line  of  flat-topped  and 
conical  hills  which  formed  its  northern  margin. 
The  level  grassy  plain  or  faddama  was  here  about 
three  miles  in  breadth,  and  through  the  middle  of 
it  ran  the  channel  of  the  river  which  at  this  season, 
I  was  told,  was  represented  only  by  a  string  of 
pools.  Many  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing  in  the 
distance,  and  all  round  the  base  of  the  cliffs  on  which 
I  stood  were  cultivated  fields  in  which  the  husband- 
men were  already  making  preparations  for  the 
coming  rain. 

Our  path  now  led  southward  over  undulating 
sandy  plains  and  past  the  towns  of  Kola  and  Diggi, 
both  of  which  were  visited  by  Barth  before  he 
struck  westward  across  the  faddama  to  Zogirma. 
In  the  neighbourhood  of  Kola  the  surface  of  the 
plains  was  decorated  by  many  detached  conical 
and  flat-topped  hills  and  short  tabular  ranges  which 
rose  from   loo  feet  to   150  feet  above  the  general 

level.      We   camped   at   Keffin    Hausawa,   a   small 

284 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

Hausa  settlement  in  the  midst  of  cultivated  park- 
like country,  and  on  the  following  day  moved  on 
to  Raha,  a  large  and  populous  town,  situated  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Gulbin  Kebbi  and  the  Jega 
River,  and  surrounded  by  open  grassy  plains 
passing  imperceptibly  into  the  faddamas  of  the 
rivers.  The  Sarlkin  Raha,  who  is  the  heir  to  the 
emirate  of  Gando,  rode  out  to  meet  me  with  a 
number  of  attendants  and  conducted  me  to  the 
rest-house  within  the  walls  and  provided  ample 
supplies  of  provisions  for  myself  and  the 
carriers . 

Immediately  beyond  Raha  we  crossed  the  Jega 
River,  which  here  flowed  in  a  deep  and  narrow 
channel  with  an  extensive  flood  plain  on  either  hand, 
over  which  the  path  then  led  to  Sengelu,  which  is 
set  on  the  margin  of  the  wide  faddama.  Beyond 
Sengelu  we  passed  many  villages  set  on  the  edge 
of  the  low  escarpment  overlooking  the  broad  valley 
of  the  Gulbin  Kebbi,  to  the  margin  of  which  we 
again  descended  as  we  approached  the  populous 
town  of  Giro.  Here  I  found  the  rest-house  full  of 
insects,  and  at  night  the  whole  faddama  in  front 
of  me  was  occupied  by  hordes  of  mosquitoes  and 
flying  ants,  for  the  abundance  of  which  the  region 
of  the  confluence  of  the  Kebbi  and  the  Niger  has 
long  been  noted.  In  the  morning  we  ascended  the 
low  cliff  behind  Giro  and  travelled  southward  to 
Kende,  beyond  which  we  crossed  the  border  of 
Kontagora  province  and  entered  the  extensive  un- 
dulating sandy  plains  which  here  fringe  the  river 
Niger  on  either  bank.     As  we  approached  Beshe 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

we  met  the  sarlkl  and  his  headman  who  had 
come  out  to  the  limit  of  their  farms  to  bid  me 
welcome. 

On  inquiry  I  found  that  the  more  frequented 
road  from  Beshe  to  Yelwa  ran  southward  by  way 
of  Fufundaji  and  Duguraha,  through  the  sandy  and 
swampy  plains  close  to  the  bank  of  the  river.  I 
chose,  however,  the  more  inland  path  which  led 
through  Shunga  and  Zoaji  over  open  park-like  un- 
dulating country,  decorated  with  a  few  knobs  and 
hummocks  of  granite  beyond  Zoaji.  On  the  third 
day  we  entered  Yelwa,  a  busy  and  populous  town 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Niger,  the  headquarters  of 
the  northern  division  of  Kontagora  province,  and 
for  a  time  also  a  military  station  in  the  early  days 
of  the  British  occupation.  The  rest-house  is  set 
on  rising  ground  to  the  north  of  the  town,  and  from 
its  verandah  I  had  for  the  first  time  a  clear  and 
uninterrupted  view  of  the  river  Niger.  The  change 
in  the  ground  rock  of  the  country,  from  the  sand- 
stones of  Sokoto  to  the  granites  of  Yelwa,  was 
accompanied  by  a  change  in  the  whole  character 
of  the  river  valley.  In  place  of  the  extensive  sandy 
and  swampy  plains  which  fringe  the  river  on  either 
bank,  both  above  and  below  its  confluence  with  the 
Gulbin  Kebbi,  its  channel  from  Yelwa  southward  is 
bounded  by  rocky  slopes  on  either  hand  which  limit 
its  waters  to  a  narrow  bed.  Between  Yelwa  and 
Jebba,  moreover,  the  Niger  flows  in  a  narrow  rocky 
gorge,  much  obstructed  by  falls  and  rapids.  At 
Yelwa,    however,    the    rocky    banks    shelve    gently 

towards   the   river   and   the   waters   are   deep   and 

286 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

calm  and  placid,  unconscious  of  their  troubled 
course  ahead. 

In  the  afternoon  I  rode  over  to  Birnin  Yauri, 
the  former  capital  of  the  Fulani  province  of  Yauri, 
which  included  all  the  towns  on  the  river  bank 
from  Beshe  to  Ngashki,  the  islands  in  the  Niger 
and  all  the  country  to  the  east  for  a  distance  of  a 
day's  journey  or  more  towards  the  land  of  the 
Dakakerre  pagans.  Birnin  Yauri  itself,  of  which 
Yelwa  was  formerly  the  port,  is  situated  about  half 
an  hour's  journey  inland  from  the  river,  and  its 
western  wall  is  built  along  the  edge  of  a  low  escarp- 
ment which  separates  the  higher  eastern  plains 
from  the  valley  of  the  Niger.  From  the  city  itself, 
however,  its  ancient  glory  has  departed  and  only 
scattered  groups  of  compounds  within  the  exten- 
sive but  dilapidated  walls  are  left  to  tell  the  tale 
of  its  former  greatness.  With  the  decline  of  Yauri, 
Yelwa  has  increased  in  importance  and  extent  until 
it  is  now  the  largest  town  and  the  best  market 
on  the  banks  of  the  Niger  between  Jebba  and  Ilo. 

The  rainy  season  was  now  fast  approaching,  and 
almost  every  night  during  our  journey  across  the 
plains  of  Sokoto  we  had  seen  the  lightning  flashing 
in  the  southern  sky.  There  had,  however,  been 
very  little  rain  in  the  north,  although  the  days 
were  often  sultry  and  oppressive.  As  we  moved 
southward,  however,  the  sound  of  the  thunder 
gradually  became  louder  and  clearer,  and  some- 
times in  the  distance  we  could  see  the  black  rain- 
clouds  forming  and  disappearing  on  the  horizon. 
Around  Yelwa  the  grass  was  longer  and  the  bush 

287 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

was  greener  than  it  had  been  farther  north,  land 

the   young  stems  of  guinea-corn  and  millet  were 

already  showing  above  the  ground.     Some  rain  fell 

in  the  night,  and  the  morning  broke  dull  and  cloudy 

and  cool.     A  fresh  and  pleasant  odour  rose  from 

the  sandy  soil,  as  we  made  our  way  through  the 

farms  of  Yelwa,   and  southward  along  the  thinly 

wooded  bank  of  the  river.     Presently,  however,  we 

entered  a  stretch  of  broken  country,  with  here  and 

there  low  rocky  kopjes  and  hillocks  of  quartzite 

and  granite .     We  camped  at  Lokofe,  a  small  village 

on  the  southern  bank  of  the  river  Malenda  which 

here,  at  its  confluence  with  the  Niger,  flowed  in 

a  deep  and  narrow  rocky  channel.     A  runfa  was 

erected  for  my  use,  but  as  the  day  remained  dull 

and  threatening,   I  took  the  precaution  of  having 

my  tent  erected  alongside,  and  my  bed  arranged  in 

it  for  the  night,  so  that  if  it  should  rain  I  might 

at    least    be    protected    from    the    storm.      As    it 

happened,   it  was   fortunate  that   I   did  so,  for  in 

the  early  hours   of  the  morning  a  tornado   broke 

over   the   neighbourhood,    and   the   frail    runfa   of 

matting   and   everything   within    was    soaked   with 

rain. 

The  air  was  fresh  and  cool  as  we  left  Lokofe 

and    struck    south-eastward   to    Ngashki   over   the 

open  plains  of  Ubakka.     Near  Ngashki  we  crossed 

the  site  of  the  former  town  of  Abara,  which  had 

been  built  among  a  number  of  granite  hills  and 

captured   and    sacked   by   the    Fulani.      Only    the 

dilapidated  walls  and  a  few  scattered  huts  of  recent 

settlers  now  indicated  the  great  extent  of  the  former 

288 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

city.  Ngashki  itself  was  a  clean  and  prosperous- 
looking  town  with  an  excellent  rest-camp  and  an 
obliging  sariki,  who  brought  out  abundant  provisions 
for  the  carriers  in  the  evening.  On  the  following 
morning  we  continued  our  march  westward  over 
the  open  grassy  plains  to  Warra,  a  populous  village 
situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Niger.  The  river 
here  is  calm  and  placid  and  unbroken  by  any  of  the 
rocks  and  rapids  which  obstruct  the  channel  above 
and  below.  It  being  therefore  a  favourable  spot  for 
crossing  the  river,  the  inhabitants  do  considerable 
business  in  ferrying  traders  and  cattle  across  the 
stream.  As  Bussa,  the  scene  of  Mungo  Park's 
disaster,  was  only  two  hours  distant  on  the  other 
bank,  I  crossed  the  river  and  followed  the  broad 
road  which  has  been  cleared  along  the  native  track 
until  we  reached  the  barlki,  which  is  set  on  rising 
ground  to  the  north  of  the  town.  From  the  rest- 
house  I  could  hear  the  roar  of  the  rapids  beyond 
the  native  town,  and  in  the  evening  I  walked  down 
to  view  the  spot  where  the  first  white  man  who 
ever  reached  the  Niger,  met  his  fate  amongst  the 
rocks.  The  river  here  was  obstructed  by  many 
projecting  knobs  and  boulders  of  granite,  and  the 
waters  whirled  and  eddied  through  numerous 
narrow  channels  between  high  walls  of  rock.  The 
very  crag  on  which  Park's  frail  canoe  was  wrecked 
was  pointed  out  by  my  native  guide  ;  and  as  I  gazed 
at  the  rapid  rushing  stream  and  the  many  obstacles 
which  barred  the  way,  I  recognised  the  inevitable 
result  of  any  attempt  to  shoot  those  rapids  without 
the  knowledge  or  assistance  of  the  local  natives. 

289  T 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

The  inhabitants  of  Bussa  now  indignantly  deny 
that  their  forefathers  shot  arrows  at  the  unfortunate 
white  man  entangled  in  the  rapids,  and  with  them 
the  story  of  Park  has  now  passed  into  a  legend 
of  a  tall  white  man,  taller  than  any  who  ever  visits 
the  Niger  now,  who,  misunderstanding  the  cries 
and  gesticulations  of  the  natives  on  the  river  bank 
who  wished  to  warn  him  of  his  danger,  was  dashed 
to  pieces  amongst  the  rocks  beyond. 

I  now  decided  to  send  the  greater  number  of  my 
carriers  eastward  to  Kontagora,  there  to  await  my 
arrival,  while  I  myself  made  a  rapid  journey  south- 
ward to  Jebba.  As  the  road  on  the  right  bank, 
however,  was  bad  and  ill-defined,  I  crossed  the 
river  again  at  Bussa,  just  above  the  rapids,  while 
the  horses  were  sent  round  by  Warra  and  Libata 
to  meet  me  on  the  left  bank.  A  broad  and  'well- 
cleared  road  has  been  cut  from  Bussa  eastward  to 
Kontagora,  leading  at  first  over  a  succession  of  rocky 
ridges  and  stony  hollows  and  gradually  rising  to 
the  open  park-like  plains  of  Auna.  At  Auna  the 
roads  to  Kontagora  and  Jebba  diverged,  and  I  with 
a  few  lightly  loaded  carriers  took  the  southern  path 
over  undulating  thinly-wooded  plains,  decorated 
here  and  there  with  scattered  flat -topped  sandstone 
hills.  The  aspect  of  the  country  remained  the  same 
until  we  reached  Biaggi,  beyond  which  we  passed 
through  hummocky  granitic  country,  and  traversed 
the  western  slope  of  the  Kailema  hills,  whence  the 
path  led  down  by  a  long  and  slow  descent  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  Niger  at  Jebba. 

From  Auna  to  Biaggi  we  had  travelled  along  the 

290 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

margin  of  the  plains  of  Kontagora  at  an  average 
distance  of  half  a  day's  journey  from  the  Niger, 
and  between  our  path  and  the  river  itself  there 
intervened  a  tract  of  broken  rocky  country  which 
extended  all  the  way  from  Bussa  to  Jebba.  "  At 
Jebba  the  hills  close  in  on  either  side,  and  the 
Niger  issues  by  a  double  channel  from  a  pictur- 
esque gorge  which  extends  northward  as  a  deeply 
cut  and  rocky  valley  as  far  as  Bussa,  a  distance 
of  seventy-five  miles.  For  eight  hundred  yards 
above  Jebba  the  gorge  is  narrow  and  bounded  by 
vertical  walls  of  quartzite.  The  Juju  Rock  and 
the  other  islands  which  interrupt  the  channel  mount 
steeply  from  the  river,  the  rapid  current  pours  over 
sunken  rocks  which  rise  abruptly  from  the  river- 
bed, and  mighty  whirlpools  bear  witness  to  the 
depth  of  the  water.  Beyond  Jebba  the  quartzite 
gives  place  to  granite,  the  vertical  walls  become 
rounded  wooded  slopes,  the  river  broadens  its 
rocky  bed  and  flows  in  a  narrow  valley  between 
two  belts  of  broken  hilly  ground  which  lead  up 
to  the  plains  of  Kontagora  and  Borgu,  500  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  river."  ' 

There  are  three  villages  at  Jebba,  the  largest 
being  situated  on  a  rocky  island  in  mid-stream,  and 
the  other  two  smaller  settlements  on  either  bank  of 
the  river  at  the  base  of  the  hills.  For  a  time,  in 
the  early  days  of  the  British  occupation,  Jebba  was 
the  capital  of  the  Protectorate,  and  bungalows  stood 
on  the  summits  and  slopes  of  the  hills  on  the 
island  and  on  either  bank.     The  station,  however, 

'  "  Geology  and  Geography  of  Northern  Nigeria." 
291 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

was  found  to  be  particularly  unhealthy  for 
Europeans,  and  ultimately  it  was  deserted  in  favour 
of  Zungeru  on  the  Kaduna.  Of  recent  years,  how- 
ever, it  has  again  sprung  into  importance,  on 
account  of  its  having  been  selected  as  the  spot 
at  which  the  Lagos  Railway  Extension  will  cross 
the  Niger.  At  the  time  of  my  visit,  the  railhead 
from  Ilorin  was  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
river,  and  Jebba  had  been  selected  as  the  head- 
quarters of  the  engineering  staff,  while  clay  houses 
and  bungalows  were  being  rapidly  erected  on  the 
site  of  the  former  cantonment  and  the  hills  again 
re-echoed  with  the  sounds  of  life  and  industry. 

I  camped  in  the  Residency  hut  on  the  summit  of 
the  island.  The  day  was  dull  and  sultry,  and  a 
hot  oppressive  odour  rose  from  the  water  below. 
In  the  afternoon  I  secured  a  canoe  and  two  strong 
men  as  polers,  and  set  out  upstream  to  visit  the 
Juju  Rock,  a  conical  hill  of  quartzite,  which  rises 
abruptly  from  the  river  about  half  a  mile  above 
Jebba.  Progress  was  slow  in  the  rapid  stream 
which  whirled  and  eddied  round  projecting  rocks 
and  sunken  boulders,  and  as  the  canoemen  strained 
at  their  poles  to  keep  their  frail  craft  in  the 
channel,  my  guides  beguiled  the  tedious  journey 
with  tales  of  the  jealous  spirits  of  the  Rock  which 
guards  the  entrance  to  the  river  gorge.  According 
to  them,  no  man  has  ever  with  impunity  climbed 
the  summit  of  the  Rock  and  gazed  with  curious 
eyes  at  the  haunts  of  the  Juju.  Once  when  the 
white  men  lived  at  Jebba,  a  daring  officer,  mocking 

at  the  spirits  of  the  Rock,  scrambled  up  the  stony 

292 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

slopes  to  the  very  summit  of  the  hill,  but  what 
he  saw  there  he  never  would  relate,  and  soon  he 
sickened,  pined,  and  died,  a  victim  to  the  speedy 
vengeance  of  the  outraged  spirits.  We  landed  on  a 
projecting  spur,  whence  a  stony  path  led  upward  to  a 
narrow  cave  in  the  side  of  the  Rock.  The  floor  was 
littered  with  broken  pots  and  calabashes  in  which 
votive  offerings  to  the  spirits  had  been  exposed, 
while  the  knobs  and  points  of  rock  around  were  hung 
with  amulets  and  charms,  the  gifts  of  earnest  wor- 
shippers of  the  dreaded  Juju.  Much  to  the  satis- 
faction of  my  native  friends,  I  made  no  attempt  to 
climb  the  rocks  above,  and  soon  we  were  once  more 
afloat  on  the  waters  of  the  Niger,  with  the  rushing 
stream  carrying  us  quickly  down  to  the  landing- 
place  at  Jebba. 

There  was  heavy  rain  at  night,  and  in  the  morn- 
ing I  crossed  again  from  the  island  to  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  and  took  the  road  northward  to 
Kontagora.  For  the  first  two  days,  until  we 
reached  Bokani,  the  road  followed  the  railway 
clearing  in  the  bush,  while  the  path  led  gently 
upward  from  the  valley  of  the  river  to  the  plains 
of  Kontagora.  Northward  from  Bokani  to  Gidan 
Fatima,  the  surface  of  the  plains  was  carved  into  a 
succession  of  plateau-like  tracts  and  shallow  flat- 
bottomed  steep-sided  valleys,  similar  in  miniature 
to  those  of  Northern  Sokoto .  Beyond  Gidan  Fatima 
the  plains  were  more  continuous,  and  broken  only 
here  and  there,  as  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Sonko, 
by  deep  and  narrow  canyon-like  valleys.  As  we 
approached  Kontagora  on  the  sixth  day,  we  passed 

293 


On   Horseback  through  Nigeria 

several  isolated  sandstone  hills  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Madara,  while  the  city  itself  was  set  in 
the  middle  of  an  open  undulating  sandy  plain,  from 
which  rose  at  long  intervals  a  few  scattered  hum- 
mocks of  granite  and  gneiss. 

The  town  of  Kontagora  was  so  named  after  a 
remark  of  its  Fulani  founder,  who,  as  he  led  his 
victorious  army  southward  in  the  days  of  the  Fulani 
conquest,  came  to  the  banks  of  the  pleasant  stream 
which  now  flows  past  the  northern  wall,  and  gave 
the  order  to  halt  for  the  night  in  the  words 
"  Kwanta  gora  "  ("Lay  down  your  water-bottles"). 
A  city  soon  grew  up  on  this  favoured  spot,  and, 
situated  as  it  was  in  the  heart  of  a  pagan  country, 
it  became  in  the  later  years  of  Fulani  domination 
one  of  the  principal  slaving  centres  in  the  south. 
At  the  time  of  the  British  occupation  of  Nigeria, 
"  the  Emir  of  Kontagora  was  one  of  the  worst 
examples  of  Fulani  chiefs  who  raided  the  peasantry 
of  their  own  provinces  for  slaves  .  .  .  and  his 
downfall  was  received  by  the  population  of  the 
province  with  great  joy."  An  expedition  was 
organised  against  the  combined  armies  of  Konta- 
gora and  Nupe  in  1 901  ;  the  town  of  Kontagora  was 
captured,  and  the  emir  fled  to  the  north.  It  was 
this  emir  who  "  at  a  later  period  was  captured 
by  the  British,  and  when  remonstrated  with  .  .  . 
and  urged  to  abjure  slave-raiding  and  accept  British 
protection,  replied  with  graphic  force  :  *  Can  you 
stop  a  cat  from  mousing?  -When  I  die  I  shall  be 
found  with  a  slave  in  my  mouth.'  "  A  new  emir 
was  installed  in  place  of  the  former  savage  ruler, 

294 


m^"^ 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

and  a  British  Resident  with  a  small  garrison  ap- 
pointed to  supervise  the  affairs  of  the  province. 

At  Kontagora  I  found  the  carriers,  whom  I  had 
sent  forward  from  Auna,  awaiting  my  arrival,  and 
reinforced  by  them,  my  little  caravan  set  out  on 
the  following  morning  upon  the  last  trek  to  Zun- 
geru,  five  days  away  on  the  banks  of  the  Kaduna. 
For  the  first  three  days,  as  far  as  Moriga  on  the 
Kara  River,  the  road  led  over  the  thinly  wooded 
and  thinly  populated  plains  of  Kontagora,  decorated 
only  by  some  flat-topped  sandstone  hills  at  Tadeli, 
and  a  group  of  granite  kopjes  at  Beri.  Beyond 
Moriga,  by  a  forced  march,  we  crossed  the  belt 
of  hilly  ground  which  separates  the  eastern  plains 
of  Zaria  from  those  of  Kontagora,  and  on  the  fifth 
day  a  short  and  easy  journey  from  Garun  Gabbas 
along  the  wagon  road  from  Zaria,  past  the  transport 
lines  and  over  the  Kaduna  bridge,  brought  us 
straight  to  the  door  of  the  rest-house  within  the 
cantonment  itself. 

Zungeru  is  picturesquely  situated  on  rising 
ground  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Kaduna  in  the 
extreme  west  of  Zaria  province.  The  Dago,  a 
small  tributary  of  the  Kaduna,  runs  through  the 
middle  of  the  cantonment,  and  a  small  native  town 
and  market  has  grown  up  close  to  the  European 
quarters.  The  Government  house  and  the  hospital 
occupy  the  highest  points,  and  between  them  lie 
the  civil  and  military  lines  with  the  respective 
offices  and  bungalows.  "  The  Kaduna  at  Zungeru 
flows  in  the  dry  season  in  a  narrow  picturesque 
gorge  between  white  walls   of  quartzite,   which  in 

295 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

the  rains  are  buried  under  a  rushing  foaming 
torrent.  Both  above  and  below,  its  channel  is  much 
obstructed  by  rocks  and  rapids,  as  it  winds  through 
the  belt  of  hills  which  separate  the  rocky  plains  of 
western  Zaria  from  the  lower  plains  of  Nupe."  ' 
The  rapids  extend  downstream  as  far  as  Wushishi, 
which  is  the  highest  navigable  point  when  the 
river  is  in  flood.  A  steam  tramway  runs  from 
Zungeru  through  the  bush  along  the  bank  of  the 
river  for  a  distance  of  twenty-one  miles  past 
Wushishi  to  Barijuko,  up  to  which  barges  and 
canoes  are  able  to  ascend  even  when  the  river  is 
low. 

At  Zungeru  I  paid  off  my  carriers,  with  a  special 
gift  and  word  of  praise  to  those  few  who  hadi 
accompanied  me  through  all  my  wanderings.  I 
sold  my  horses  and  discharged  my  horse-boys, 
giving  each  a  written  character  or  "  book,"  as  it 
is  called,  setting  forth  his  virtues  and  his  faults. 
Then  on  the  following  morning  with  cook,  steward- 
boys,  and  interpreter,  I  travelled  by  the  steam  tram- 
way or  jirigin  kassa  ("canoe  of  the  land") 
to  Barijuko,  where  I  found  a  barge  or  steel  canoe 
waiting  to  convey  me  to  Mureji  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Kaduna  and  the  Niger.  These  barges  are 
of  similar  construction  to  the  canoes  of  the  type  of 
the  R.M.S.  {S)tork,  with  the  exception  that  instead 
of  being  propelled  by  steam  they  are  equipped  with 
ten  polers,  who  work  more  or  less  harmoniously 
under  the  charge  of  a  headman.  The  banks  of 
the  Kaduna  below  Mureji  are  decorated  with  occa- 

*  •'  Geology  and  Geography  of  Northern  Nigeria." 
296 


The  Gulbin  Kebbi 

sional  flat-topped  sandstone  hills,  but  towns  and 
villages  are  rare  upon  the  margin  of  the  river.  On 
the  third  day  we  reached  Mureji  whence  a  steam 
canoe  conveyed  me  to  Lokoja,  past  the  pinnacle 
peaks  of  Egbom,  round  the  bend  of  the  river  at 
Egga,  past  the  busy  port  of  Baro  with  the  beach 
strewn  with  rails  and  girders,  and  southward  as 
far  as  Koton  Karifi  through  the  gorge  of  the  Niger, 
where  "  in  places  for  considerable  distances  the 
flat-topped  hills  still  rise  up  with  precipitous  slopes 
on  either  side  in  all  their  ancient  grandeur."  At 
Lokoja  we  made  fast  alongside  the  Kapelli,  which 
was  due  to  sail  on  the  following  morning  for  Burutu 
and  Forcados. 

My  tour  was  over  :  my  work  was  done.  And 
although  my  health  had  been  good  throughout,  and 
the  sights  and  scenes  which  I  had  witnessed  both 
interesting  and  instructive,  it  was  with  barely  a 
sigh  of  regret  that  on  the  morrow  I  watched  the 
flat-topped  Patti  fading  slowly  in  the  distance.  The 
black  man's  land  can  never  be  the  white  man's 
home  ;  and  although  choice  or  necessity  may  lead 
a  roving  spirit  even  to  the  shores  of  Chad,  or  to  the 
margin  of  the  northern  desert,  there  is  nothing  in 
all  the  land  which  gladdens  the  heart  so  much,  as 
the  sight  of  the  shipping  at  Forcados  and  the  smell 
of  the  salt  sea  breezes,  as  we  bump  across  the  bar 
into  the  open  sea  beyond.  .    J, 


297 


APPENDIX 

THE   FUTURE   OF   NIGERIA 

What,  then,  is  to  be  the  future  of  this  great  land 
whose  scenery  is  so  varied,  whose  inhabitants  are 
so  diverse,  and  whose  history  has  been  so  romantic  ? 
From  the  very  earliest  times  the  fertile  northern 
plains  have  been  the  scene  of  war  and  counter 
war,  as  successive  invaders  strove  for  the  possession 
of  this  prize  of  the  Sudan.  From  time  immemorial 
also  the  southern  hills  and  forests  have  been  the 
hunting-ground  of  the  northern  tribes,  the  inex- 
haustible source  from  which  the  great  markets  of 
the  north  were  stocked  with  their  supplies  of  slaves. 
The  natural  fertility  of  the  soil  everywhere  assured 
an  abundance  of  food  ;  and  in  the  early  days  inter- 
tribal encounters  added  the  necessary  zest  and 
colour  to  the  everyday  life  of  the  untutored  in- 
habitants alike  of  the  plains  and  of  the  hills.  In 
the  latter  days  of  the  Fulani  empire,  however,  a 
mercenary  spirit  was  introduced  into  these  inter- 
tribal relations  ;  and  in  order  to  acquire  the  luxuries 
of  the  north  from  the  hands  of  the  Arab  slavers, 

the  Mohammedan  rulers  captured  and  sold,  not  only 

298 


Appendix 

the  savage  pagans  of  the  hills,  but  even  the  un- 
offending peasantry  of  their  own  domains . 

All  this  has  changed,  however,  since  the  Pax 
Britannica  settled  upon  the  land.  Within  a  few 
short  years  slave  raiding  has  been  suppressed,  inter- 
tribal wars  have  been  discouraged,  the  pagans  have 
been  confirmed  in  the  possession  of  their  hills, 
and  the  turbulent  spirits  of  the  northern  Fulani 
curbed  and  confined.  The  formerly  distressed 
pagans  are  grateful  for  the  security  of  their  lives 
and  their  homes,  and  the  overburdened  peasantry 
of  the  plains  for  their  relief  from  excessive  taxa- 
tion and  extortion.  The  ruling  classes  of  former 
days  are,  for  the  moment,  overcome  by  the  rapidity 
of  the  change,  and  profess  a  lip  loyalty  to  the  new 
regime.  From  one  end  of  the  Protectorate  to  the 
other,  the  casual  traveller  is  impressed  by  the 
peaceful  pastoral  life  of  the  inhabitants  whose  only 
enemies  now  are  famine  and  disease. 

And  yet  this  apparent  tranquillity  can  hardly  be 
otherwise  than  temporary  and  superficial.  A 
reasoned  civilisation  cannot  be  impressed  within  ten 
short  years  upon  unlettered  mediaeval  minds.  The 
tranquillity  is  that  of  the  iron  hand  :  the  civilisa- 
tion is  based  upon  the  prestige  of  the  white  man 
and  his  guns.  The  primitive  passions  still  are  there  ; 
and  were  Britain  to  retire  from  the  middle  Niger, 
anarchy  and  disorder  would  at  once  run  riot 
throughout  the  land.  The  Protectorate  of  Northern 
Nigeria  is  unique  in  that,  in  it.  Great  Britain  is 
not  there  to  ward  off  from  a  defenceless  people  the 

attacks  of  foreign  invaders.     On  the  contrary,  the 

299 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

whole  object  of  the  British  occupation  has  been 
the  protection  of  the  people  from  themselves,  the 
protection  of  the  simple  pagan  from  the  ruthless 
Mohammedan,  and  of  the  Hausa  peasantry  from 
their  Fulani  oppressors.  The  law  and  order  which 
have  been  imposed  alike  upon  Mohammedan  and 
pagan,  upon  Hausa  and  Fulani,  are,  however,  en- 
tirely foreign  to  the  instincts  and  traditions  of  the 
people    themselves ;     and    while    at    present    their 

j  attitude  is  that  of  passive  curiosity,  the  sameness 
and  monotony  of  their  existence  must  in  time  weigh 
heavily  upon  their  active  spirits.  Unlettered  ease 
is  hard  to  endure  ;  and  it  is  harder  still  for  a  ruide 
and  simple  warrior  to  change  the  whole  tenour  of 
his  life  and  devote  himself  solely  to  agriculture, 
cattle-breeding,  or  petty  trading.  His  food  and 
clothing  may  be  secure,  but  all  the  variety  has 
gone  from  his  life.  Adventure  and  sport,  so 
essential  to  the  mediaeval  mind,  are  now  to  him 
unknown,  and  even  his  love  of  gaudy  display  can 

[be  satisfied  only  at  long  and  irregular  intervals. 
While,  therefore,  at  present  the  population  appears 
happy  and  contented,  there  is  little  doubt  that  at  the 
back  of  the  black  man's  mind  there  is  a  longing 
for  the  irresponsibility  and  picturesqueness  of  the 
good  old  times  when  might  was  right  throughout 
the  land  ;  and  the  risk  of  a  local  or  general  insur- 
rection, of  a  fanatical  or  emotional  character,  is 
a  possibility  for  which  for  many  generations  their 
European  masters  must  be  prepared. 

Northern  Nigeria,  moreover,  is  a  state  complete 
in  itself  with  regard  to  internal  trade.     Although 

300 


Appendix 

its  inhabitants  vary  much  in  degree  of  civilisation, 
the  country  appears  to  produce  within  itself  all  the 
necessaries  and  luxuries  of  native  existence.  The 
products  of  the  southern  forests  are  naturally 
different  from  those  of  the  open  northern  plains  ; 
and  thousands  of  petty  traders  are  engaged  in  the 
interchange  of  food  stuffs  and  articles  of  native 
manufacture.  The  markets  of  the  larger  cities  are 
stocked  with  merchandise  of  every  description  ;  but 
with  the  exception  of  cheap  English  or  German 
cotton  goods,  European  salt,  and  kola-nuts  from 
the  coast,  almost  everything  has  been  produced  or 
manufactured  within  the  country  itself.  The 
quantity  of  imported  luxuries  is  very  small  and 
consists  chiefly  of  beads  and  hardware,  silk  goods, 
lump  sugar,  soap,  cigarettes,  and  matches.  The 
total  imports  in  1909  did  not  exceed  in  value  the 
sum  of  £350,000,  a  remarkably  small  figure  when 
the  vast  extent  of  the  Protectorate  and  the  great 
population  of  the  country  (8,000,000)  are  taken 
into  consideration.  With  the  progress  of  develop- 
ment, the  amount  of  imported  goods  may  be 
expected  to  increase,  but  it  must  never  be  for- 
gotten that  the  natives  in  their  present  state  of 
civilisation  have  few  wants  which  cannot  be  satis- 
fied as  cheaply  and  as  satisfactorily  by  the  products 
of  their  own  country. 

For  the  same  reason  the  export  trade  is  like- 
wise small  and  unimportant,  its  total  value  in  1 909 
barely  exceeding  £400,000.  There  is  little  or  no 
demand  outside  the  Protectorate  for  goods  of  native 
manufacture  ;    and  in  a  country  where  every  want 

301 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

is  already  satisfied,  the  progress  of  civilisation  alone 
can,  by  raising  new  wants  and  new  desires,  rouse 
within  the  people  themselves  sufficient  enthusiasm 
for  the  collection  of  those  vegetable  or  mineral 
products  of  their  country  which  are  required  in 
the  modern  world.  Shea  nuts  and  palm  kernels 
may  be  collected  in  abundance  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  Protectorate.  Rubber  is  plentiful  in 
the  southern  forests  and  ground  nuts  grow 
luxuriously  on  the  northern  plains.  Every  town 
and  village  has  its  cotton-fields,  and  the  natives 
spin  the  lint  and  weave  substantial  fabrics  for  them- 
selves, while  they  readily  dispose  of  their  scanty 
surplus  at  remunerative  prices  in  the  local  markets. 
Almost  everywhere  throughout  the  Protectorate  the 
soil  is  favourable  for  the  growth  of  cotton,  and 
the  length  of  staple  could  readily  be  improved. 
The  natives,  however,  grow  little  more  than  enough 
for  their  own  requirements,  and  the  prices  which 
European  buyers  can  afford  to  give  for  cotton-lint 
are  insufficient  to  remunerate  the  natives  for  their 
toil,  and  even  lower  than  they  can  obtain  in  their 
own  local  markets. 

The  establishment  of  a  great  cotton  industry 
in  Northern  Nigeria  is  therefore  a  very  difficult 
problem.  It  has  been  suggested  that  English 
capitalists  should  equip  large  cotton  plantations  in 
convenient  localities  throughout  the  country  ;  but 
apart  from  the  cost  of  white  supervision,  the  price 
of  unskilled  native  labour  within  the  Protectorate 
is    so    very   high,    being    fixed   at   present   at    gd. 

per    day,    that    the    initial    outlay    and    cost    of 

302 


Appendix 

maintenance  of  such  plantations  on  a  sufficiently 
extensive  scale  would  be  practically  prohibitive. 
Until  the  price  of  unskilled  labour  has  been 
reduced  at  least  by  half,  it  is  impossible  for 
the  agricultural  resources  of  the  Protectorate  to 
be  developed  by  others  than  the  natives  themselves. 
To  meet  this  difficulty  it  has  been  suggested  that 
the  local  government  should  collect  the  annual 
tribute  of  the  towns  and  villages  in  cotton  lint ; 
but,  with  callous  natives,  such  a  policy  could  only 
be  successful  under  compulsion,  and  compulsion 
would  speedily  breed  unrest.  It  would  seem,  in- 
deed, that  the  only  feasible  method  of  encouraging 
the  natives  to  extend  and  develop  their  cotton 
plantations  is  for  the  Government  to  distribute 
selected  seed  and  subsidise  the  local  industry  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  make  the  growth  of  larger 
quantities  of  cotton  at  once  sufficiently  remunera- 
tive to  the  native  peasantry.  This  course,  however, 
although  undoubtedly  the  simplest,  has  not  yet  been 
favourably  entertained  by  the  Imperial  Treasury. 

The  question  of  the  development  of  the  tin-fields 
lies  on  a  different  footing.  The  high  prices  which 
have  ruled  in  the  home  markets  during  the  last 
decade  for  tinstone  of  good  quality  have  rendered 
it  possible  for  private  companies  to  pay  all  the  costs 
of  white  supervision,  of  unskilled  native  labour, 
and  of  local  transport,  and  yet  to  leave  a  satis- 
factory margin  of  profit.  The  actual  demonstration 
of  this  possibility  by  the  Niger  Company,  and  the 
discovery  of  new  and  extensive  stanniferous  areas 
in  Bauchi  province  have  attracted  to  that  district 

303 


On  Horseback  through   Nigeria 

within  the  last  two  years  large  numbers  of  pro- 
spectors and  mining  engineers.  Many  claims  have 
been  staked  out,  and  some  of  the  alluvial  deposits 
have  been  found  to  be  so  rich  that  they  may  be 
profitably  worked  even  under  great  difficulties  of 
labour  and  water  supply.  Owing  to  the  excellent 
quality  of  the  ore,  the  prospects  of  developing  the 
tin  industry  are  very  promising,  and  a  large  increase 
of  local  revenue  may  be  expected  from  this  source 
within  the  next  few  years.  The  tinstone  is  widely 
distributed  both  in  alluvial  deposits  and  in  lodes 
over  the  northern  margin  of  the  Bauchi  plateau 
between  Badiko,  Naraguta  and  Polchi,  and  ex- 
tensive accumulations  are  also  known  to  occur 
amongst  the  Ningi  hills  to  the  north. 

The  development  of  the  tinfields  has  in  the  past 
been  greatly  handicapped  by  the  difficulties  of 
transport.  All  the  ore  won  from  the  alluvial 
deposits  had  to  be  carried  by  porters  for  fourteen 
days  in  6o-lb.  sacks  before  it  reached  the  river, 
and  the  cost  of  such  primitive  land  transport  formed 
a  very  heavy  item  in  the  total  expenditure.  This 
difficulty,  however,  has  no  longer  to  be  faced,  as 
the  Government  have  sanctioned  the  construction 
of  a  narrow  gauge  line  from  Zaria  into  the  heart 
of  the  tin  area.  The  future  of  the  tin  industry  is 
therefore  assured  :  but  it  must  never  be  forgotten 
that  the  development  of  the  tinfields  can  have 
relatively  little  influence  upon  the  progressive 
evolution  of  the  country  as  a  whole.  The  imme- 
diate effect,  indeed,  apart  from  the  temporary 
enrichment  of  the  workers,   is  rather  the  reverse 

304 


Appendix 

of  beneficial,  as  the  native  tin-smelting  industry, 
which  was  formerly  carried  on  at  Liruei-Kano,  is 
now,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  ore,  likely 
to  be  abandoned.  The  natives  are  strictly  excluded 
by  the  mining  companies  from  those  localities  from 
which  they  formerly  drew  their  supplies  of  ore, 
and  in  consequence  several  communities,  at  one 
time  rich  and  prosperous,  are  nov^^  in  danger  of 
being  reduced  to  poverty.  It  seems  probable  also 
that  within  a  period  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  years 
all  the  profitable  alluvials  will  be  exhausted  ;  and 
serious  attention  will  then,  if  not  before,  require 
to  be  devoted  to  the  development  of  the  agri- 
cultural resources  of  the  Protectorate. 

The  Baro-Kano  Railway  and  the  northern  exten- 
sion of  the  Lagos  Railway  to  Jebba  and  Zungeru^ 
are  the  most  important  public  works  which  have 
yet  been  undertaken  within  the  Protectorate.  The 
first  train  entered  Kano  in  March,  191 1,  and  it 
is  confidently  anticipated  that  the  direct  com- 
munication thus  established  between  the  markets 
of  Hausaland  and  the  river  Niger  and  the  port 
of  Lagos,  will  result  in  the  speedy  development 
of  the  northern  states.  For  reasons  already 
enumerated,  however,  any  very  great  increase  in 
the  import  and  export  trade  of  the  Protectorate 
cannot  be  expected,  until  with  the  progress  of 
civilisation  a  younger  generation,  dissatisfied  with 
the  simple  ways  of  its  fathers,  finds  it  advantageous 
to  its  own  comfort  and  prosperity  to  devote  itself 
to  the  task  of  developing  the  latent  possibilities 
of  the  country.     It  is  hoped  that  this  day  may  be 

305  u 


On  Horseback  through  Nigeria 

hastened  by  the  dissemination  of  European  learning 
amongst  the  ruling  classes,  and  a  beginning  in 
this  direction  has  already  been  made  by  the 
establishment  at  Kano  of  both  elementary  and 
technical  schools  for  mallamai  and  the  sons  of 
chiefs. 


306 


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INDEX 


INDEX 


Abo,  25 

Akiri,  122 

Alexander,  Lieutenant  Boyd,  210, 

215 
Angass,  102 
Ankwe,  107 
Argungu,  274,  280,  282 
Ari,  236,  237,  240 
Arofu,    III,    ii6;   lead-mines    of, 

117  ;  precautions  at,  n8 
Assab,  73 
Awe,  119 
Awok,  155,  156 

Bajoga,  150 
Bantaji,  Rock  of,  108 
Barbur,  plains  of,  170 
Baro-Kano  railway,  45,  85,  304 
Barth,  H.,  179,  180,  181,  183,  184, 

194,  195,  249,  253,  263,  264,  268, 

270,  275,  284 
Bashar,  128 
Bauchi,  92  ;  scenery    round,  90 ; 

central  plains  of,  140 
Bauchi  plateau,  see  Plateau,  Bauchi 
Beggars,  professional,  57 
Benue,  42,44  ;  canoes  on,  113,  115 
Bima  hills,  169,  170 
Birnin  Kebbi,  283 


Bornu,  169  et  seq.  ;  plains  of,  178  ; 
kingdom  of,  179,  209  ;  fall  of, 
179  ;  British  occupation  of,  180 

Bre,  191,  192,  201 

Buduma,  195 

Bukuru,  75,  80,  84 

Bura,  236  ;  reception  at,  240,  241 

Bur  mi,  59,  148,  170,  274 

Burutu,  18 

Bush  camp,  61 

Bush  fire,  at  Igbo,  32,  33  ;  at  Chi- 
buk,  177 

Bussa,  289 

Canoes,  types  of,  in,  195 

Carriers,  class  of,  37  ;  embarkation 
of,  41  ;  at  Loko,  45  ;  with  tin- 
stone, 50,  56,  58  ;  on  the  march, 
63,  65,  66,  123,  150;  pagan 
carriers,  88;  at  Ibi,  in;  on 
night  march,  137 ;  at  Nafada, 
147  ;  at  Zembu,  152 

Chad,  see  Lake  Chad 

Chibuk,  175 

Chongwom,  161 

Christmas  Day,  65,  68 

Christmas  Eve,  64 

Cooks,  native,  20 

Cotton,  302 


309 


Index 


Daia,  217 

Dala,  Mt.,  251,  259 

Darroro,  69,  70 

Deba  Habe,  151,  153,  165,  169 

Deu,  141 

Dingaia,  229 

Dozi,  215,  216 

Dukshi,  172 

Dumbum,  219 

Dusua,  171 

Empire,  S.W.,   18 ;  accommoda- 
tion on,  19 

Fagam,  229,  245 

Fika,  212,  214 

Firki,  182 

Forcados,  16,   17,  297  ;  River,  16, 

22 
Fulani,  of  Bauchi,  94  ;  of  Gongola 

Valley,  150  ;  of  Hausaland,  225, 

238,  245,  247,  261,   272;    bush- 

Fulani,  139 

Gadama,  229,  233 

Ganna  Ganna,  25 

Gateri,  35 

Giro,  285 

Golo,  142 

Gombe,  145 

Gongila,  148 

Gongola  River,  faddama  of,  142  ; 

valley  of,  143,  145,  170 
Guinea  worm,  i6o 
Gujba,  204,  206,  208 
Gulani,  170,  171 
Gulbin  Kebbi,  277 
Gurkawa,  106 


Hadeija,  247 
Hardawa,  223 


Harmattan,  29,  32,  71 

Hausaland,  borders  of,  210  et  seq. ; 
plains  of,  222,  243  ;  Fulani  con- 
quest of,  252 ;  British  occupa- 
tion of,  254,  273 

Horses,  liable  to  disease,  46 ;  in 
canoes,  no,  xii 

Ibi,  109,  no 

Idah,  30 

Igbo,  hills  of,  32 

Iron  industry,  127,  138,  141,  186 

Itobe,  32 

Jaginde,  65,  67 ;  market-day  at,  67 

Jebba,  290,  291 

Jeb-Jeb,  132 

Jellum,  218 

Jemaari,  245 

Juju  Rock,  292 

Kaduna  River,  296 

Kagoro  hills,  69,  71  ;  tribesmen  of> 
69 

Kaltunga,  167 

Kanna,  126 

Kano,  251,  255,  259 

Kantana,  127 

Katagum,  245,  246,  247 

Katsina,  265 

Kazaure,  263 

Keffi,  54,  58,  59 

Kereng,  95,  98 ;  king  of,  98  ;  vol- 
canic cone  of,  99 

Kerri  Kerri,  146, 209 ;  cafion  valleys 
of,  213  ;  escarpment  of,  214,  215, 
216 

Kibyen  people,  73,  74,  76,  77  ;  vil- 
lages  of,  73 

Kila,  244 

Kirifi,  141 

Kogin  Delimi,  81,  235 


310 


Index 


Kontagora,  294 

Kudu  Valley,  129 

Kukawa,  179,  181, 187-91,  201,  202, 

209 
Kurefi,  268 
Kvvakwassa,  64 
Kwankyam,  125 

Lake  Chad,  178, 181, 183 ;  descrip- 
tion of,  192-200,  209 

Lead-mines,  of  Arofu,  117;  of 
Kudu  Valley,  131 

Lecture,  native,  39,  40 

Lele,  213 

Letter,  characteristic  native,  I2i 

Ligri,  133 

Loko,  44  ;  arrival  at,  45 

Lokoja,  33,  34,  35,  297 

Maidugari,  176,  181 
Maifoni,  179,  180,  205 
Marghi,  173,  174,  177 
Mohammedans,  30,  90,  211,  229 
Mongonu,  185,  203 
Monkeys,  origin  of,  91 
Munchi,  117 
Murmur,  246 

Nafada,  146 

Naraguta,  70,  81,  84 

Nassarawa,  53,  54  ;  sariki  of,  54 

Ngell,  80,  84  ;  reception  at,  85 

Nigeria,  future  of,  298 

Niger  River,  25,  285  ;  delta  of,  16, 

22,    24 ;    navigation   of,  26,   33  ; 

description  of,  26,  29,  31,  286, 

289 
Ningi,  236,  237,  238 


Onitsha,  26  ;  convicts  at,  27 


Pagans,  of  Ita,  48 ;  of  Gidan  Dutsi, 
52  ;  of  Bauchi  plateau,  72,  76 ; 
of  Sura,  98  ;  of  Angass,  102  ;  of 
Gurkawa,  106;  of  Kanna,  126; 
of  Ligri,  133  ;  of  Gateri,  135  ; 
of  Gongola  Valley,  151  ;  of  Tan- 
gale,  154,  165  ;  of  Southern 
Bornu,  173  ;  of  Kerri  Kerri,  211  ; 
of  Ningi,  236 

Panda,  154 

Panguru,  138 

Panyam,  plains  of,  97  ;  king  of,  97, 
loi  ;  truculent  people  of,  100 

Patti,  Mt.,  36,  41,  297 

Plateau,  Bauchi,  60,  69  ;  new  road 
over,  70;  inhabitants  of,  70,  72, 
76 ;  ascent  of,  72  ;  treeless 
aspect  of,  75,  76 ;  cold  nights  on, 
78  ;  striking  scenery  on,  79  ; 
descent  from,  81,  82  ;  first  ac- 
quaintance with,  85  ;  develop- 
ment of  tinfields  on,  83,  188 

Polchi,  82,  89 

Potiskum,  210 

Pyem,  95,  96,  loi 

[   Rabeh,  179,  180,  189,  206 

Salt,  at  Awe,  1 19  ;  manufacture 
of,  I20  ;  at  Akiri,  123  ;  at  Jeb- 
Jeb,  132 ;  of  vegetable  origin, 
186  ;  saltbush,  200 

Sarlkin  Muslimin,  149,  273 

Shira,  226,  245 

Siwak  tree,  200 

Sokoto,  253,  273,  274 

{S)tork,  R.M.S.,  41  ;  navigation  of, 
42 

Superstition,  power  of,  129,  131 

Tangale  Peak,  136,  153,  159,  168 
Tangalto,  163,  165 
Tiffi,  237 


3" 


Tinfields,  discovery  of,  83  ;  locality 
of,  88  ;  development  of,  303 

Trade,  import  and  export,  301 

Traders,  native,  38,  48,  50,  62 

Tunga,  116,  118 

Ture,  155,  157,  168  ;  sariki  of,  155, 
158  ;  galadima  of,  158,  162,  164 

Volcanic  hills,  105,  106,  108,  119, 
159.  172 

Wase,  104, 123  ;  Rock  of,  104,  105, 
108,  123,  127 


Index 

Wurnu,  275,  276 


Yami,  220 
Yauri,  287 
Yayu,  221 

Yelwa    (in   Muri),    107,    123  ;    (in 
Kontagora),  286,  287 


Zagawa,  224 
Zago,  144 
Zungeru,  292,  295 


312 


THE  MODERN  TRAVEL  SERIES 

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Uganda  to  Khartoum.     By  A.  B.  Lloyd. 
Links  in  My  Life  on  Land  and   Sea.      By  Commander 
J.  W.  Gambier,  R.N. 

True  Tales  of  Mountain  Adventure.  By  Mrs.  Aubrey  Le 
Blond  (Mrs.  Main). 

In  Search  of  El  Dorado.    A  Wanderer's  Experiences.  By 

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In  Dwarf  and  Cannibal  Country.     By  Albert  B.  Lloyd. 
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Tropical  Queensland.     By  E.  J.  Banfield. 

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THE  CANADIAN 
ROCKIES 

NEW  AND  OLD  TRAILS 

By  ARTHUR  P.  COLEMAN.   Ph.D.,   F.R.S. 

President  of  the  Alpine  Club  of  Canada 
Professor  of  Geology  in  the  University  of  Toronto 

With  3  Maps  and  41  Illustrations.      Demy  8vo,  cloth,  12s.  6d.  net. 

Probably  no  living  explorer  has  traversed  more  of  the  Canadian 
Rockies  than  Mr.  Coleman,  whose  passion  for  the  mountains  has  led 
him  among  them  for  many  summers  since  1884,  when  he  crossed  them 
in  advance  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway.  During  these  years  he 
and  his  parties  have  travelled  in  every  possible  way,  by  canoe  and 
raft  on  turbulent  rivers,  and  with  Indian  ponies  or  on  foot  through 
thousands  of  miles  of  new  and  old  trails  in  wild  mountain  valleys. 
Large  parts  of  the  present  map  of  the  Rockies  were  made  by  himself 
and  his  companions,  who  climbed,  by  the  way,  dozens  of  virgin  peaks, 
crossed  many  unknown  passes,  and  discovered  splendid  lakes  and 
rivers  hitherto  without  a  name.  In  1893  his  party  dethroned  Mount 
Brown  and  Mount  Hooker,  which  had  long  masqueraded  on  the  maps 
as  the  highest  mountains  in  Canada,  and  showed  that  there  were  dozens 
of  higher  peaks  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  last  work  of  Mr.  Coleman 
and  his  companions  has  been  done  around  and  upon  Mount  Robson, 
the  highest  point  of  the  Canadian  Rockies,  and  perhaps  the  most 
difficult  mountain  in  North  America,  a  peak  quite  comparable  with 
the  Matterhorn.  His  party  was  the  first  to  set  -foot  upon  this  fine 
mountain,  and  their  pioneer  climbs  and  explorations  about  it  are  full 
of  interest.  One  of  his  companions,  Mr.  Kinney,  made  the  only 
successful  ascent  of  this  formidable  peak.  As  a  geologist  Mr.  Coleman 
touches  in  a  popular  way  on  the  very  interesting  problems  of  the 
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MY  CLIMBING  ADVENTURES 
IN  FOUR  CONTINENTS 

By  SAMUEL  TURNER.   F.R.G.S. 

Imperial  Russian  Geographical  Society  Medallist 
Author  of  "  Siberia :   a  Record  of  Travel,  Climbing,  and  Exploration." 

With  74  Illustrations.        Demy  8vo,  cloth,  12$.  6d.  net. 


The  Westminster  Gazette  has  described  Mr.  Turner  as  "the 
most  adventurous  living  climber."  This  is  more  than  borne  out  by 
his  climbs  in  Switzerland,  Siberia,  the  Andes,  New  Zealand,  and 
some  very  stiff  rock-climbing  in  England.  Mr.  Turner  has  had  many 
almost  miraculous  escapes,  he  has  surmounted  the  most  serious 
difficulties  and  dangers,  and  has  accomplished  some  feats  of  climbing 
which  by  the  most  expert  climbers  are  considered  marvellous.  In 
this  book  he  tells  of  daring  acrobatic  rock-climbing,  dangerous 
mountain  exploration,  and  even  mountain  discovery.  He  travelled 
on  sledge  and  horseback  i,6oo  miles  through  Siberia  in  winter  to  climb 
Beluka  (14,800  ft.),  at  that  time  supposed  to  be  Siberia's  highest  moun- 
tain, and  discovered  other  mountains  17,800  ft.  high.  His  traverse  of 
Mount  Cook  for  the  first  time  is  the  longest  continuous  climb  on 
record.  It  took  four  and  a  half  days,  out  of  which  thirty-six  hours 
were  continuous  climbing  ;  twenty-four  hours  were  spent  in  climbing 
6,000  ft.  of  ice-slopes  at  an  angle  of  56-60  degrees,  and  4,000  ft.  of 
almost  vertical  precipices,  including  2,000  ft.  of  precipices  covered 
with  ice  an  inch  thick,  which  had  to  be  cut  off  before  climbing.  On 
all  his  expeditions  he  has  started  alone  from  England  with  a  scanty 
outfit,  depending  on  a  companion  in  the  country  of  his  intended 
climb.  Mr.  Turner's  narratives  will  be  found  thrilling  for  the  general 
reader,  instructive  to  the  mountaineer,  and  inspiring  to  the  explorer, 
showing  what  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  accomplish  practically 
unaided,  and  with  little  equipment. 

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Java,  Sumatra,  and  the  other  Islands  of 
the  Dutch  East  Indies 

By  a.  CABATON 

Translated  and  with  a  Preface  by  Bbrnard  Miai-L. 
With  a  Map  and  47  Illustrations.  Demy  8vo,  cloth,  10«.  6d.  net. 

This  volume  gives  a  concise  yet  ample  account  of  the  natives,  the  agricultural 
and  other  resources,  the  administrative  divisions,  the  cities  and  ports,  the 
antiquities  and  religions  of  an  empire  which  has  been  most  unaccountably 
neglected  by  the  English  author.  All  that  many  people  know  of  Java  is  that 
it  was  once  English  and  that  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  was  connected  with  its  fortunes. 
Yet  in  view  of  the  analogy  of  our  own  Indian  Empire  we  have  every  reason  for 
taking  the  keenest  interest  in  the  Dutch  East  Indies.  It  is  especially  interesting 
to  compare  the  Dutch  administration  with  our  own,  and  to  note  their  methods  of 
dealing  with  native  States.  The  translator  contributes  a  brief  historical  preface 
and  occasional  explanatory  notes.  The  volume  is  illustrated  by  photographs 
dealing  with  both  Dutch  and  native  life,  and  is  of  interest  not  only  to  the 
student  of  economics  and  commerce,  and  the  general  reader,  but  especially  to 
those  who  are  about  to  become  acquainted  with  the  Far  East. 

THE  NEW  CHINA 

A  TRAVELLER'S  IMPRESSIONS 

By  HENRI    BOREL.         Translated  by  C.  Thieme. 

With  48  Illustrations.  Demy  Svo,  cloth,  10s.  6d.  net. 

This  book,  by  a  writer  well  known  to  students  of  Eastern  problems,  discusses 
a  "  Yellow  peril  "  unlike  that  of  the  journalists — a  peril  not  threatening  Europe 
with  ironclads,  airships,  or  bayonets,  but  with  the  vastly  greater  power  of  ideals. 
The  author  shows  how  recent  years  have  changed  the  entire  situation  in  China, 
and  how  among  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  Chinamen  new  ideas  are  fermenting. 
A  movement,  such  as  has  rarely  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world,  has  begun 
to  form  into  one  conscious  nation  what  used  to  be  a  loosely  connected  agglomera- 
tion of  tribes  and  races,  knowing  nothing  of  each  other's  language  or  interests. 
The  wars  in  the  North,  against  Japan  or  Russia,  scarcely  interested  the  Chinese 
of  the  South.  Canton  and  Shanghai  are  as  unlike  each  other  as  Paris  and  Madrid; 
not  different  dialects  but  different  languages  are  spoken  in  the  two  cities.  But  now, 
for  the  first  time,  the  author  notices  a  tendency  towards  the  possibility  of  a  united 
Chinese  Empire,  with  a  common  language  and  common  ideals.  Politics  and 
economics  are  not  neglected  in  the  book,  but  its  chief  object  is  to  show  the  new 
China  against  the  background  of  the  ancient  beauty  of  the  land,  a  beauty  now 
dying  a  tragic  death  in  the  dawn  of  a  new  day.  China  is  pictured  as  passing 
through  the  storm  and  stress  of  spiritual  reformation  and  resurrection,  the  outcome 
of  which  will  compel  Europe  to  reconsider  its  position  in  regard  lo  the  "  Yellow 
Peril." 

T.   FISHER   UNWIN,   i   Adelphi  Terrace,   London. 


THE   ARGENTINE   IN   THE 
TWENTIETH   CENTURY. 

By   ALBERT   B.   MARTINEZ, 

Under-Secretary  of  State,  and 

MAURICE   LEWANDOWSKI. 

With  an  Introduction  by  C.  Pellegrini,  formerly  President  of  the 

Argentine  Republic,  and  a  Preface  by  Emile  Levasseur,  Member 

of  the  Institute  of  France.    Translated  by  Bernard  Miall. 

Demy  8vo,  cloth,  128.  6d.  net  (Inland  postage  5d.) 

The  authors  of  this  work  have  been  assisted,  and  their  volume 
is  prefaced,  by  prominent  Argentine  statesmen,  so  that  the  book 
may  be  taken  as  a  reliable  and  authentic  account  of  the  present 
economic  condition  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  of  its  as  yet 
undeveloped  resources,  and  of  its  probable  future  development. 
The  precise  economic  situation,  the  growth  of  exports  and  imports, 
the  evolution  of  railways  and  industries,  and  the  financial  structure 
of  Society,  are  all  fully  and  lucidly  described.  As  a  financial  and 
economic  study  of  a  country  that  has  a  great  future  before  it, 
"  The  Argentine  in  the  Twentieth  Century  "  is  of  interest  to  men 
of  business,  to  politicians,  to  sociologists,  and  to  students  of 
humanity  in  general. 

"  This  valuable  book,  which  is  an  authoritative  account  of  the  present  economic 
condition  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  .  .  .  will  be  of  the  utmost  interest  to  com- 
mercial men,  and  all  who  desire  to  possess  a  reliable  financial  and  economic  study 
of  a  country  with  a  great  future  before  it." — Chamber  of  Commerce  journal. 

"  In  the  crowd  of  books  on  the  South  American  Republics  that  are  now 
appearing,  this  volume  stands  out  as  containing  most  valuable  statistics  on  all 
matters  relating  to  the  commercial  development  of  the  Republic." — The  Nation. 

On  Sale  at  all  Booksellers. 

T.   FISHER  UNWIN,   i  Adelphi  Terrace,  London. 


ARGENTINE  PLAINS  AND 
ANDINE   GLACIERS. 

An  Account  of   Life  on  an  Argentine  Estancia  and  of  Camping-out 

in  the  Andes. 

By  WALTER  LARDEN, 

Member  of  the  Alpine  Club, 
Author  of  "  Recollections  of  an  Old  Mountaineer." 

With  a  Map  and  90  Illustrations,     Demy  8vo,  cloth,  148.  net 
(Inland  postage,  5d.) 

This  book  possesses  unique  characteristics  which  give  it  a  place 
of  its  own  among  works  dealing  with  Argentina.  A  connection 
with  Argentina  dating  from  i868,  a  visit  of  some  seven  months  in 
1888-9,  and  a  second  visit  of  some  ten  months  in  1908-9,  have 
given  the  writer  opportunities  for  the  study  of  life  in  the  Pampas 
that  are  not  usually  possessed  by  travellers.  Mr.  Larden  describes 
the  life  and  work  on  a  typical  estancia ;  gives  the  complete 
history  of  one  of  those  terrible  locust  invasions  that  periodically 
ravage  the  country ;  and  relates  much  that  is  interesting  about  the 
natives,  the  Italian  colonists,  and  the  animal  life  to  be  met  with  in 
the  plains.  He  also  describes  a  three-weeks'  expedition  into  the 
heart  of  the  Andes,  and  a  shorter  visit  to  Chile.  The  illustrations, 
selected  from  about  600  original  photographs  that  he  brought 
back  with  him,  give  a  peculiarly  realistic  character  to  his  narrative. 
Among  these  illustrations  we  find  instantaneous  photographs  of 
lazo-ing,  snap  shots  of  locusts  in  the  act  of  changing  their  skin, 
and  many  others  of  equally  unusual  character.  The  book  is,  in 
fact,  a  picture  of  the  hfe  of  an  English  settler  in  Argentina,  by  one 
who  has  had  unusual  opportunities  of  studying  it. 

"An  instructive  and  attractive  book  on  Argentina." — Westminster  Gazette, 

"  The  book  is  crammed  full  of  interest  from  cover  to  cover,  and  the  illus- 
trations, all  unique  photographs,  taken  by  Mr.  Larden  himself,  add  immensely 
to  the  value  of  the  book." — Western  Morning  News. 

"  This  volume  indeed  is  more  than  interesting  to  the  ordinary  reader,  because 
it  is  thoroughly  informative  of  Argentine  camp  life,  and  we  are  not  aware  of  any 
other  volume  that  can  compare  with  it  in  the  thoroughness  and  authoritatiyeness 
of  the  information  which  it  gives  upon  all  matters  relative  to  estancia  life." — 
Buenos  Aires  Herald. 

On  Sale  at  all  Booksellers. 

T.  FISHER   UNWIN,  i  Adelphi  Terrace,  London. 


UNWIN  BROTHERS,  LIMITBD, 
WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


/ 


\ 


THE  fclHRAHY 

WnVEKBITY  CF  CAr.IFORNlA 
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